<
>

Michigan State QBs Katin Houser, Sam Leavitt to enter transfer portal

Michigan State redshirt freshman quarterback Katin Houser and true freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt both plan to enter the transfer portal once it opens on Dec. 4.

Houser, who played in 11 games and started Michigan State's final seven games this season, will have three years of eligibility remaining. He told ESPN's Pete Thamel of his decision to enter the portal.

Houser supplanted redshirt junior Noah Kim as the Spartans' starting quarterback against Rutgers on Oct. 14 and finished with 1,132 passing yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions.

The 6-foot, 215-pound Houser was an unranked four-star quarterback out of St. John Bosco High School (California).

On the way to finishing 4-8 this season, Michigan State's offense struggled mightily. Its offense tallied 15.9 points per game (last in the Big Ten), averaged 288.5 total yards per game (13th in the Big Ten) and its passing offense averaged only 200.0 yards per game (10th in the Big Ten).

Kim is now the only remaining quarterback on the roster for newly installed coach Jonathan Smith. Leavitt, a four-star prospect out of West Linn, Oregon, posted his intention to enter the portal on social media Monday night. He has four years of eligibility left.

Smith was officially hired away from Oregon State on Saturday, where he went 34-35 in six seasons at his alma mater and went a combined 25-13 in his last three seasons in Corvallis.

Smith, a former college quarterback who led the Beavers to a program-best 11-1 record in 2000 -- including a 41-9 rout of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl -- is known for his work with quarterbacks and will be looking to revitalize an offense that scored only 191 points this season.