Spring QB battles fading away in Big Ten. Of 8 new starters, 6 transfers showed up with job in hand
Quarterback competitions traditionally have been the focal point of spring football when a team has lost its starter from the previous season. Look no further than the Big Ten to see how those battles are becoming a thing of the past. There will be eight new starters in the conference this fall, and six will be experienced transfers who arrived at their new schools with the job all but locked up.
After all, coaches want a sure thing when millions are being spent on revenue sharing and name, image and likeness compensation. No QB will be watched more than Josh Hoover, who takes over for Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza at defending national champion Indiana . Hoover threw for 9,600 yards and 71 touchdowns in three years at TCU but had an issue with turnovers.
He lost nine fumbles and threw 33 interceptions in 36 games, including at least two picks in 11 games. TCU coach Sonny Dykes publicly needled Hoover about the turnovers after he left, and it didn't go unnoticed by Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who noted two areas where the Horned Frogs struggled during Hoover's time in Fort Worth. “We’ve got to clean up some of the turnovers, obviously, which coach Dykes made light of,” Cignetti said.
“But when Josh got here, he met his two new best friends: Great defense and a really good run game, and he was never the same after that. ” Other teams breaking in transfer QBs are Illinois (Katin Houser, East Carolina), Nebraska (Anthony Colandrea, UNLV), Northwestern (Aidan Chiles, Michigan State), Penn State (Rocco Becht, Iowa State) and Wisconsin (Colton Joseph, Old Dominion). There are two QB battles that could continue into fall camp.
Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown, both backups a year ago, are competing at Iowa . Dylan Lonergan, who started 10 games at Boston College, and holdover backup AJ Surace are contending for the job at Rutgers . Coaching carousel There are four new head coaches, and of the 16 new coordinators, four already have made their names as head coaches.
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