College Football's Most Important Offers of the Week

Given its prestige and tradition, Notre Dame is one of the few schools that has the ability to recruit the entire country instead of focusing on a territory close to its campus.

Brian Kelly and his staff may have seen the 2014 season spiral out of control after the Irish lost five of their last six games prior to a 6-0 start, but that hasn’t slowed their efforts on the recruiting trail. 

In particular, Kelly hit the state of California hard last week, offering four of the Golden State’s top juniors and one of its top sophomores.

The Irish offered a trio of 4-star receivers in Brandon Burton, Tyler Vaughns and Dylan Crawford, plus 3-star defensive end Oluwole Betiku. 

Additionally, 2017 4-star athlete Darnay Holmes was also tendered by the Irish.

Burton, who plays at powerhouse Serra High School in Gardena, California, was excited to receive the offer from Notre Dame, per Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports.

"They are very high on my list," Burton told Wiltfong. "It's a great program, great academics. It's a great young team with a ton of potential."

The Irish have had success recruiting skill players in California recently, including luring tight end Tyler Luatua in the 2014 class and picking up a pledge from 2015 4-star receiver C.J. Sanders.

Betiku, who also picked up an offer from Penn State last week, is a prep teammate of Burton’s and has offers from schools such as Arizona State, Florida State, Oklahoma and UCLA, among others.

Given the amount of work the Irish staff is putting in on the West Coast, it’s clear that Kelly’s staff has identified California as an important territory for the program's future efforts on the recruiting trail.

Leon Halip/Getty Images

Michigan State Goes on 2016 Offer Spree

Both Notre Dame and Michigan State were the newest schools to enter the race for 2016 4-star defensive end Terrell Hall, according to Adam Friedman of Rivals:

In addition to Hall, head coach Mark Dantonio offered five other 2016 prospects who are all slated to play defense in college.

The Spartans tendered 4-star safety Damar Hamlin—who also received an offer from Duke—and 4-star corner Joshua Dunn.

Kyle Goblirsch of Gophers247 reports that 4-star linebacker Carter Coughlin earned an offer from Dantonio. Also, Demetric Warren of VarsityPreps notes that the Spartans also offered 4-star defensive end Isaiah Chambers.

"

Blessed to have gotten an offer from Michigan State #GoGreen

— MEGAOBJ (@KDSZN) December 4, 2014"

Finally, 2016 4-star athlete Kyle Davis, who is committed to South Carolina, was also offered by the Spartans.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Texas offers 2016 Florida OL

Texas head coach Charlie Strong has had a tremendous amount of success recruiting in the state of Florida dating back to his days as an assistant at the University of Florida.

Last week, Strong and his staff offered one of the elite offensive line prospects in the 2016 cycle—4-star Sunshine State product Parker Boudreaux.

Boudreaux, who was also one of the first recruits to pick up an offer from new SMU head coach Chad Morris, has nearly 60 offers to his credit before he begins his senior season.

The 6’5”, 282-pounder is a candidate to become a left tackle at the next level.

Butch Dill/Getty Images

Mississippi State Offers Trio of Underclassmen

With its 2015 class sitting on 29 pledges, Mississippi State has been aggressive in pursuing prospects in the 2016, 2017 and even 2018 classes.

Head coach Dan Mullen and his staff offered 2016 4-star receiver Freddie Swain, per Ryan Bartow of 247Sports. Bartow also reports that the Bulldogs joined West Virginia in offering Swain’s teammate and 2018 athlete Jalen Patterson.

"

#MississippiState has offered 2017 LB Markail Benton - http://t.co/nesHxkhnL1 @PJ247Sports

— Josh Edwards (@JEdwar247) December 3, 2014"

According to Josh Edwards of TheCatsPause247, Mullen and his staff also offered 2017 4-star linebacker Markail Benton.

With the Bulldogs making some noise on the national scene this season, Mullen’s staff has hit the recruiting trail aggressively in hopes of capitalizing on that exposure.

Best of the Rest

• 2015 4-star corner Marcus Lewis picked up offers from Oklahoma State and Louisville.

• Head coach Bobby Petrino and the Cardinals also offered 2015 3-star tight end Amir Ealey. Per Scout’s Corey Bender, 2016 tight end Nick Eubanks also earned a Louisville offer.

• 2015 3-star linebacker and current Louisville commit Darius Smith was offered by Notre Dame.

• Mississippi State offered 2015 3-star corner and current Louisville pledge Kareem Orr.

• Per Bartow, Ole Miss offered 2015 4-star quarterback Sheriron Jones, who is committed to Florida.

• Per Justin Hopkins of 247Sports, Washington is the newest offer for 2015 2-star receiver Xavier Castille.

• Penn State offered a handful of 2016 prospects, including linebacker Cameron Brown, 4-star tight end Luke Farrell and 3-star offensive lineman Josh Ball. The Nittany Lions also joined Rutgers in offered 2016 defensive end Shaka Toney, per Friedman.

• Bartow reports that North Carolina made offers to a trio of juniors from Coconut Creek High School in Pompano Beach, Florida: corner Alexy Jean-Baptiste, 4-star receiver Binjimen Victor and 4-star corner Trayvon Mullen. Per Friedman, defensive end Nick Coe was also offered by the Tar Heels. Head coach Larry Fedora and his staff also offered 2016 3-star tight end Jovani Haskins.

• According to Wiltfong, Duke offered 2016 4-star tight end Jake Hausmann. The Blue Devils also offered 2016 4-star athlete Jordan Fuller, per Friedman.

• 2016 offensive lineman Landon Dickerson picked up an offer from Clemson, per Bartow.

• Virginia is the latest offer for 2016 3-star offensive lineman Sean Pollard.

• 2016 linebacker Erroll Thompson earned an offer from Missouri.

• Tennessee is the newest offer for 2016 4-star receiver Donnie Corley.

• According to Keith Niebuhr of 247Sports, California offered 2016 4-star tight end Isaac Nauta.

• UCLA offered 2016 4-star athlete Chase Lucas.

• 2017 4-star athlete Anthony McFarland Jr. picked up an offer from Michigan State.

• Pittsburgh offered 2017 4-star running back D’Andre Swift.

• 2017 running back Robert Burns received an offer from Georgia.

• According to Warren, Auburn is the newest offer for 2017 4-star quarterback Lowell Narcisse.

• LSU offered 2017 4-star running back Ty Chandler, per Barton Simmons of 247Sports.

• Bartow reports that Arizona State made offers to a trio of prep teammates out of Hawkins High School in Los Angeles: 2017 4-star athlete Greg Johnson, 2017 4-star receiver Joseph Lewis and 2018 receiver Jalen Hall.

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.