Oregon State Top 2015 Defender Rommel Mageo Transferring to Ole Miss

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

During a season to forget for Gary Anderson during his first run with Oregon State, the stream of bad news has continued to flow into the offseason with top 2015 defender Rommel Mageo transferring to Ole Miss.

Anderson’s first season in Corvallis fell apart quickly and never regained much traction going 2-9 overall, 0-9 in Pac-12 play. Since the season ended with a 52-42 Civil War loss to in-state rival Oregon, six different Beavers have left the program. The first painful blow was seven-game starting quarterback Seth Collins taking off to Northern Illinois and the next disastrous loss was Mageo transferring to the Rebels.

Mageo (6-2, 233) redshirted during his true freshman season in 2012 but then worked his way into a starting role in 2013 coming up with 47 tackles and five tackles for a loss. His sophomore season was a step back only coming up with 23 tackles as a reserve but his junior campaign by all accounts was a big success coming up with 87 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.

The Rebels lost two key linebackers due to graduation in C.J. Johnson and Denzel Nkemdiche. The senior transfer has a great opportunity to come in and compete for a starting position in 2016.

The other four players transferring out of the Oregon State program includes quarterback Nick Mitchell, defensive lineman Luke Hollingsworth, linebacker Malik Gilmore, and defensive back Chris Hayes. Collins started seven games for the Beavers completing 84 of 161 passes with six touchdowns against four interceptions. Nick Mitchell started five games for Oregon State completing 51 of 113 passes with three scores and three picks. Freshman Marcus McMaryion was the third-string quarterback in 2015 completing 27 of 67 passes with one touchdown tossed against three picks.

Photo credit: sunherald.com; No. 46 Rommel Mageo gets a fumble recovery vs. Portland State.