Driskel one to beat for starting QB job
Kiffin wants others in mix, but former No. 3 seized chance.
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic’s Lane Kiffin didn’t always succeed in previous coaching stops, but no one ever doubted his work with quarterbacks.
In Kiffin’s first head coaching job since Southern Cal fired him midway through the 2013 season, he helped turn Owls redshirt junior Jason Driskel into one of Conference USA’s top quarterbacks. After losing the preseason quarterback battle to Daniel Parr (Dwyer) and beginning the season as the Owls’ third quarterback, Driskel went 10-1 as a starter as the Owls won their first C-USA championship and the Boca Raton Bowl.
The Owls won 11 games, their most at the FBS level.
To start our position reviews from the 2017 season, we’ll go with a spot that wasn’t solidified until after the season was under way.
MVP: Driskel didn’t play until garbage time of a 45-0 win over Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 16 and didn’t start until the next week at Buffalo, in the season’s fourth game. But he more than made up for lost time. Driskel finished with career highs in completion percentage (66.5) and touchdowns (15) while cutting down on his interceptions (four, after throwing 11 in 2016).
Though Kiffin has promised another quarterback competition, Driskel should enter spring camp as the fullfledged starter for the first time in his career.
Biggest surprise: Kiffin never elected to use a two-quarterback system and kept Parr on the bench. When games were out of reach, Kiffin put wide receiver and former Auburn quarterback John Franklin III in at quarterback to lead a Wildcat formation. After throwing 75 times in the first three games, Parr did not attempt a single pass after being removed from the starting lineup.
Who’s returning? Driskel, Chris Robison, Conor Miller and Tyrone Smith Jr. (Smith is expected to see action at cornerback this spring and could permanently move there.) De’Andre Johnson is expected to return for the 2018 season if he is healthy after suffering from blood clots.
Who’s leaving? Parr announced last month he will transfer to Duquesne University. FAU is not losing any other of its true quarterbacks, though Franklin has exhausted all years of eligibility.
Biggest offseason storyline: Is this spring’s competition strictly between Driskel and Robison? With Parr’s departure and Johnson’s football future uncertain, Kiffin could opt to add an impact quarterback to this year’s recruiting class during the February signing period.
Given that Johnson is working his way back from a serious surgery, senior Miller is likely to enter camp alongside Robison as one of the first two quarterbacks behind Driskel.