Oregon St. running back Malcolm Agnew has announced he will be transferring to Southern Illinois for spring term. Agnew will be immediately eligible to play for the Salukis, an FCS program from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Agnew, who started as a freshman when not injured, saw his snaps dwindle last season, even when healthy, as Storm Woods took control of the starting job, and Terron Ward also saw a share of the playing time.

With redshirt freshman Chris Brown also on the roster, plus a pair of highly regarded freshmen running backs from Texas in Lawrence Mattison and Damien Haskins joining the program this year, there's still more backs than snaps for them for the Beavers, and Agnew could quickly claim the starting job at SIU.

Southern Illinois went 6-5 last season, and 5-3 in the MVC.

In addition to being closer to home (Agnew is from Chesterfield, MO, near St. Louis), he will also be joining his brother Ray, who is the fullback for the Salukis.

In his 2 seasons for Oregon St., Agnew ran for 692 yards and 6 touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards a carry. But nearly a third of that, 223 yards, and half the touchdowns, came in Agnew's first game, against Sacramento St.

(Connor Pelton also contributed to this story.)

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com