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Georgia defensive back Jake Pope entered the transfer portal in mid-December with the Bulldogs gearing up for the College Football Playoff. He’s since found a new landing spot.
The redshirt sophomore announced a commitment to UNLV on Monday. He’ll soon join a Rebels squad fresh off an 11-win campaign.
This represents Pope’s second time in the portal after starting his career at Alabama. After Nick Saban’s departure, he opted to stick around in the SEC with the Bulldogs.
Interestingly enough, there’s an SEC tie at his new school, too. Former Mississippi State and Florida head coach Dan Mullen is set to take over in Las Vegas after Barry Odom accepted a role at Purdue.
Pope has played sparingly across two NCAA seasons after redshirting in Year 1. He appeared in 12 games with the Crimson Tide in a special teams role before seeing action in five contests with Georgia this past season. Now, he’ll hope to make a larger impact in the Mountain West Conference.
Earlier this season, Jake Pope made headlines following a Georgia loss to Ole Miss. After the game, he was seen celebrating with the family of childhood friend Reece McIntyre, who’s an offensive lineman for the Rebels. Kirby Smart provided a public lashing after the fact.
“What an idiot,” he said while speaking with the media. “Just stupid… Just not real smart. To be honest with you, I don’t have time to waste energy on that.”
A month after receiving that evisceration, he hit the portal, though playing time was likely the largest contributing factor in his decision. We’ll see if he can make an impact at his third school next season.