Working through a QB competition this spring

After watching its offense struggle through a disappointing 1-8 season in 2020, USF entered spring football camp with all eyes on the quarterback competition.

Injuries and inefficiency made the Bulls turn to four different players at quarterback last season.

Jordan McCloud saw most of the action, starting seven games and finishing with a team-high 1,341 passing yards and nine touchdowns. Freshman Katravis Marsh and senior Noah Johnson also earned starts while North Carolina transfer Cade Fortin found himself limited by injury much of the season.

True freshman Jordan Smith, who appeared in one game last season, made the switch to the safety position this spring.

USF finished the season ranked No. 74 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing offense after the Bulls completed less than 60% of their passes while averaging just over 216 yards per game.

The quarterback room went through a makeover during the offseason with the departure of McCloud, who transferred to Arizona. In his place, coach Jeff Scott and his staff added former Miami quarterback Jarren Williams, who transferred after appearing in 13 games for the Hurricanes over the past two seasons.

“I do feel very confident in our guys here,” Scott said of the quarterback situation. “We have several guys here legitimately that can earn the starting spot. I’m not sure if I felt that way at all with the quarterback room last year. We were just a little bit too inconsistent.”

“Both groups were great kids that were hungry to learn and compete. I think maybe the type of players we have this year are different,” added offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr. “Most of the quarterbacks in this competition are definitely pass-first types of guys, where last year we maybe had some more athletic players. Both groups were great kids and worked hard and wanted to be the best.”

The quarterback competition is still under evaluation, according to Scott, but there have been a few standouts.

“Cade Fortin is probably the MVP so far in my opinion through four days,” Scott said of the Georgia native. “The way that he has improved and sped up his processing and delivering the ball, it’s like a completely different player than where he was last year in the beginning in fall camp.

“I think that’s having a year to digest the playbook and figure out what we’re asking him to do. He’s been phenomenal.”

Added Weis: “Cade’s done a great job in Year 2 of the offense and you can tell it’s made a huge difference for him.”

Another factor in the quarterback equation is Williams, a strong-armed Georgia product who passed for 2,204 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his time at Miami. His addition gives the Bulls some much-needed experience.

“When you go 1-8 and don’t have a whole lot of success offensively, the quarterback position is the No. 1 position I needed to look at,” Weis said. “We knew after the season we needed to add some quarterbacks to the room, and we wanted someone with starting experience. That was a big thing that we looked for and, obviously, he did that starting at Miami.

“We saw a very productive player that can make all the throws that we want to make in our offense and has leadership ability. We saw that he’s the type of guy that leads an offense and be that kind of person.”

Weis said Williams has been hungry to learn the offense, knocking on his door constantly to pick his brain about how things work.

“That fires me up,” Weis said. “He’s certainly picking things up and he’s getting better each and every day.”

Former North Carolina quarterback Cade Fortin has assumed a larger role at USF, earning the praise of the Bulls coaching staff this spring as the team searches for a starting quarterback.