Engel’s End Around: Examining several “ORterback” situations and QB transfers

Patrick Engel
Sep 4, 2018 · 9 min read

This is my weekly college football column, covering my main takeaway from the weekend’s games and much more

ORterbacks

College football coaches have a favorite word around opening week.

“Or.”

This two-letter pairing dotted Week 1 depth charts across the country, serving as a deflection device for coaches who don’t want to name a starter at a position. We’re led to believe this uncertainty is often done to gain a brief advantage over an opponent. The most intriguing “or’s” are found at quarterback, where some coaches choose to deploy KGB-level secrecy.

This cynicism is mainly applicable to Nick Saban, who contrived the idea that he had to “disrespect” or “vilify” one of his quarterbacks when asked about a starter. Unneeded bitterness aside, though, he oversees one of a handful of Power Five quarterback competitions that have lasted into the season and may not be over just yet. The idea of taking the opening game to play all quarterbacks involved and then evaluate is logical, especially if the opening game is against a lowly team. But the competition usually ends after one game. Here is a look at the notable Power Five quarterback situations and what may be in store for next week.

Alabama: This is finally becoming clear and ending how we expected. Tua Tagovailoa started against Louisville and threw 16 passes. He completed 12 of them for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Hurts played two first-half drives, going 2 of 6 for 36 yards. The Crimson Tide beat Louisville, 51–14.

“I wanted Tua to play somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 plays and then we we’re going to put Jalen in the game,” Saban told reporters after the game.” It didn’t matter when it was or what the score was.”

Saban could do the same thing next week vs. Arkansas State and get the same result, but he said Monday that Tagovailoa will start this weekend. While Hurts is still expected to play, the early acknowledgement of a starter from Saban makes this seem even more like Tagovailoa’s job.

Clemson: Kelly Bryant started, but shared time with Trevor Lawrence, the №1 overall player in the 2018 class. This ended up as a pretty equal split, with Bryant throwing 15 passes and Lawrence 16. Clemson scored on all five of Lawrence’s drives. It’s hard to really take much away from a laugher against FCS opponent Furman, though, and this doesn’t appear to be over.

“We will definitely play both quarterbacks,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters. “There’s no doubt about that.”

A road game at Texas A&M should bring more clarity to this one.

Northwestern: There’s a caveat here, as incumbent Clayton Thorson spent the offseason recovering from an ACL tear suffered in the Wildcats’ bowl game. Coach Pat Fitzgerald said after the game that Thorson was on a “series count.” Thorson still started and led two touchdown drives to begin the game. Then he was pulled for backup T.J. Green, who took the next two series. Thorson came in again and led another scoring drive and played the rest of the first half. Both played in the second half as well.

“I think it was more that we had kind of a series plan that we were gonna go through, if that makes sense,” Fitzgerald told reporters. “I’m being a little bit vague for a reason.”

Perhaps the reason is that keeping Thorson on a series count will last beyond Week 1. That would imply he’s not 100 percent healthy, which would not be a surprise considering he tore his ACL in late December. He looked healthy enough, as the two early touchdowns suggest. If he is, there’s no reason for anyone else to play.

Georgia: The opening week depth chart listed Jake Fromm as the starter and № 2 overall freshman Justin Fields the backup. It did not use “or.” Both played in the first half of Bulldogs’ 45–0 win over Austin Peay.

“It’s just a situation where there’s no plan,” Smart said Monday. “You know, we gotta go with how things go and how the flow of the game goes. I thought (Fromm) did a good job Saturday in the game, handled things well, but I don’t know what this game is going to dictate.”

Smart offers a little uncertainty, but it’s hard to imagine Fromm losing the job unless he displays prolonged ineffectiveness. Yet, the idea of Fields not starting until 2020 is equally incomprehensible.

Cal: This is only here because of how Saturday’s win vs. North Carolina transpired. Ross Bowers was listed as the starter on Cal’s initial depth chart, but he didn’t play at all in the second half. Head coach Justin Wilcox said he was not injured. Cal played three quarterbacks, and they combined to throw for 119 yards on 3.7 yards per attempt. Bowers ceded snaps to mobile backups Brandon McIlwain and Chase Garbers, who combined for 13 carries.

“There’s nothing Ross did wrong,” Wilcox told reporters. “All the guys at that position can play better.”

Given Cal’s offensive struggles going back to last year, this seems open if any one of the three stands out.

Arkansas: Ty Storey didn’t start in the opener, but he totaled four touchdowns on 12 of 17 passing and forced his way into an “or” situation with Cole Kelley after Kelley was listed as the starter last week. Head coach Chad Morris said he had planned to insert Storey on the fourth series, which he did. Morris said Monday he plans to play both Saturday at Colorado State. Storey, though, certainly earned the first look. Morris said he will get the first-team reps in practice this week.

Maryland: An “or” separated Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome on the Terps’ Week 1 depth chart. Interim head coach Matt Canada told reporters last week that he had picked a starter, but wouldn’t say who. Hill played most of the snaps in the win over Texas, with Pigrome seeing a few first-half drives. It appears to be Hill’s job.

Quarterback transfers

On the other hand, quarterbacks who do not win a starting job are transferring with more frequency. Just last week, two more did exactly that: Tristan Gebbia and Bailey Hockman transferred after they did not win starting jobs at Nebraska and Florida State, respectively. Each was a four-star recruit in the 2017 class.

This isn’t a rant about the “transfer epidemic,” a silly narrative about a natural occurrence in college athletics that can happen for a handful of reasons. Perhaps the biggest one: there can only be one quarterback on the field, and top quarterback recruits don’t go to college to sit on the bench for their entire careers. Still, 25 four- or five-star quarterbacks from the 2015, 2016 or 2017 classes have transferred at least once. Of those 25, 11 either started or played in their new FBS team’s opener, seven are not eligible due to transfer rules and six transferred to either an FCS school or a junior college. Most of these either lost a competition or didn’t see a path to playing time, but a few left for other reasons. Here is the full list, with rankings according to the 247Sports Composite.

2017

№ 1 pro-style Hunter Johnson, Clemson (transferred to Northwestern)

№ 7 pro-style Chris Robison, Oklahoma (Florida Atlantic)

№ 9 pro-style Tristan Gebbia, Nebraska (Oregon State)

№ 9 dual-threat Lowell Narcisse, LSU (junior college)

№ 11 pro-style Bailey Hockman, Florida State (TBD)

2016

№ 1 pro-style Shea Patterson, Ole Miss (Michigan)

№ 2 pro-style Jacob Eason, Georgia (Washington)

№ 2 dual-threat Brandon McIlwain, South Carolina (Cal)

№ 4 pro-style Malik Henry, Florida State (junior college)

№ 6 dual-threat Woody Barrett, Auburn (junior college, Kent State)

№ 7 dual-threat Zerrick Cooper, Clemson (Jacksonville State)

№ 8 pro-style Jack Allison, Miami (West Virginia)

№ 10 pro-style Patrick O’Brien, Nebraska (Colorado State)

№ 11 pro-style Messiah deWeaver, Michigan State (junior college)

2015

№ 1 dual-threat Kyler Murray, Texas A&M (Oklahoma)

№ 2 pro-style Blake Barnett, Alabama (Arizona State, South Florida)

№ 2 dual-threat Jarrett Stidham, Baylor (Auburn)

№ 4 pro-style Brady White, Arizona State (Memphis)

№ 4 dual-threat Travis Jonsen, Oregon (junior college, Montana State)

№ 6 pro-style Ricky Town, USC (Arkansas, Pitt)

№ 7 dual-threat Sheriron Jones, Tennessee (Colorado, Tennessee, junior college, New Mexico)

№ 8 dual-threat Joe Burrow, Ohio State (LSU)

№ 11 pro-style Quinten Dormady, Tennessee (Houston)

№ 12 pro-style Dwayne Lawson, Virginia Tech (junior college)

№ 14 pro-style Alex Malzone, Michigan (Miami Ohio)

Class of the classes

Senior: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Stanford wide receiver: Stanford’s passing attack cruised in its 31–10 win vs. San Diego State, during which Arcega-Whiteside hauled in six catches for 226 yards and a trio of touchdowns. He added a two-point conversion on his final score. Arcega-Whiteside was Stanford’s leading receiver a year ago, but failed to record a catch in the Cardinal’s loss to SDSU last season, in which Stanford managed only 80 passing yards.

Junior: Mason Fine, North Texas quarterback: It’s hard to pick between Fine, UCF’s McKenzie Milton (five touchdowns vs. UConn) and Western Michigan’s D’Wayne Eskridge (240 receiving yards), but we’ll go with the quarterback who made the biggest statement. Fine, a third-year starter, completed 40 of 50 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns. Fine made his case as the best quarterback in Texas and that the Mean Green could again contend for the Conference USA title after reaching the league’s title game last year.

Sophomore: Cole McDonald, Hawaii quarterback: Meet the nation’s leader in touchdowns and passing yards. Sure, he has played two games, but McDonald threw for 428 yards and six touchdowns to lead Hawaii past Navy. For the season, he is 56 for 78 for 846 yards and nine TDs with no interceptions.

Freshman: Rondale Moore, Purdue wide receiver: Moore, a former Texas commitment, is Jeff Brohm’s highest-ranked signee at Purdue to date. The Louisville native impressed right away in Thursday’s loss to Northwestern by setting a school record with 313 all-purpose yards in his first college game. He gets the call here over Maryland’s Jeshaun Jones, who debuted with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown.

Remember him?

Chason Virgil was a one-time Mississippi State commitment in the 2015 class before the Bulldogs’ staff pulled his offer about three weeks before he was set to sign. He later committed to Fresno State, where he started 14 games and threw for 19 touchdowns. He transferred to FCS Southeastern Louisiana after playing sparingly last year. In his debut, he completed 28 of 39 throws for 358 yards and four touchdowns. He helped the Lions nearly upset Louisiana-Monroe, which scored go-ahead touchdown with 37 seconds left to avoid a bad loss.

Ed Oliver watch

This needed to be a weekly feature, because Oliver is going to produce at a Heisman-caliber level and everyone should know about it. This is the possible №1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, after all. Oliver tallied 3.5 tackles for loss in Houston’s win over Rice. That wasn’t even the most impressive part. He had a game-high 13 tackles — as a defensive lineman! Do yourself a favor and watch him play.

Shoutout to…

Jamal Custis: The fifth-year senior’s impressive opener signaled that Syracuse might have its third straight 1,300-yard receiver. Custis had 168 yards and two touchdowns (including this one-handed grab) in Saturday’s win vs. Western Michigan. The surprise, though, is that he came into this year with 142 yards and two scores in his career! If Saturday’s performance is a sign of what’s next, Custis will be one of 2018’s most out-of-nowhere breakout players.

Under-the-radar team of the week

Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors are 2–0 with wins over Colorado State and Navy. A mediocre offense a year ago, they have 51 points through two games. They have a favorable schedule ahead (Rice, at Army, Duquesne, at San Jose State) that could net them bowl eligibility by the end of September.

Don’t miss…

№15 USC at №13 Stanford (Saturday, 7:30 pm CT, FOX): The only top-25 matchup of the weekend. Stanford could use the win if it wants to keep up with Washington in the Pac-12 North. USC, meanwhile, could establish itself as the early favorite in a wide-open Pac-12 South if freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels follows up a strong debut vs. UNLV with a road win.

№2 Clemson at Texas A&M (Saturday, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN): Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher meet again. Each team is 1–0 after disposing of an FCS team last week. This meeting in College Station should reveal more about Texas A&M’s outlook in Fisher’s first year, but Clemson’s quarterback battle could be decided too.

Group of Five game of the week

Memphis at Navy (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS Sports Network): This is some intriguing early conference play action. Memphis trounced Mercer last weekend, while Navy lost at Hawaii. This is a good early barometer for new quarterback Brady White and Memphis, which is the favorite to win the AAC West division.

Patrick Engel

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Sports writer, talker, watcher

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