See how Kentucky’s rivals fared on football signing day

University of Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino took advantage of college football’s new early signing period to secure signatures from 20 prospects on Wednesday.

The Cardinals’ recruiting class to this point leans heavily on defense. U of L signed six defensive linemen, three defensive backs and three linebackers. Petrino also picked up a quarterback, an offensive lineman, three wide receivers, a tight end and two “athletes.”

The quarterback joining the fold is three-star prospect Jordan Travis of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The Cardinals’ class includes three four-star prospects and 17 three-stars, according to Rivals.com rankings. The four-star signees are defensive back Trenell Troutman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wide receiver Marcus Riley of Tallahassee, Fla., and defensive back Chandler Jones of Miami.

Louisville signed 11 players from Florida, four from Georgia, three from Kansas and one each from Alabama and Mississippi. Like their rivals at Kentucky, the Cardinals signed no in-state players in the early period.

Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky announced 13 signees for the opening day of the early period on Wednesday.

The Hilltoppers signed four defensive backs, two linebackers, two defensive linemen, two wide receivers, an offensive lineman, a quarterback and a running back. The class included five prospecte from Georgia, four from Florida, two from Alabama, one from Illinois and one from South Carolina.

Eastern Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky announced 13 signees Wednesday, including one from Kentucky.

Peyton Knippenberg, from Conner High School, was one of four offensive linemen signed by the Colonels. EKU also secured signatures from three defensive backs, two tight ends, a quarterback, a wide receiver, a defensive lineman and a punter. The Colonels landed three players each from Tennessee and Georgia, two from Ohio and one each from Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, Illinois and Australia.

Around the nation

The relevance of the traditional national signing day in early February took a major hit. The vast majority of high school seniors decided not to wait any longer to make their decisions and signed on the bottom line Wednesday.

Clemson signed two of the nation’s top three prospects in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and defensive end Xavier Thomas. The top previously uncommitted player to announce his decision Wednesday was defensive end Micah Parsons, who chose Penn State.

At least one new coach scored a major victory as Florida’s Dan Mullen signed quarterback Emory Jones, who had been committed to Ohio State. Jones is rated as the No. 40 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 5:42 PM with the headline "See how Kentucky’s rivals fared on football signing day."