Robison appears to be top QB left
Driskel’s retirement casts doubt on battle for Owls’ starting job.
BOCA RATON — As Florida Atlantic quarterback Jason Driskel leaves football following his retirement Thurs- day, his former head coach has a new problem.
With Driskel leaving to complete his engineering degree and ex-Dwyer star Daniel Parr transferring to Duquesne, the quarterback competition that Owls coach Lane Kiffin promised after his team’s Boca Raton Bowl victory last month will now look much different.
Of the current quarterbacks on FAU’s roster, only De’Andre Johnson — the former Florida State Seminole and “Last Chance U” star — has thrown a pass at the FBS level. But with Johnson returning from September surgery to remove blood clots in his arm, his playing future is uncertain.
Only four quarterbacks other than Driskel are listed on FAU’s updated roster: Johnson, Oklahoma transfer Chris Robison, Conor Miller and Trent Wessel.
If Kiffin feels that John- son is not ready to practice, Robison likely would get the bulk of first-team snaps until he and the former Florida Mr. Football can properly compete.
Kiffin is high on Robison, a player he compared with former Heisman Trophy win- ner Johnny Manziel, and that makes him the likely front-runner for the starting job.
Robison, 6 feet 1, 177 pounds, transferred from Oklahoma in August after being dismissed from the Sooners for violations that included an April DUI arrest. Given the “Last Strike U” nickname Kiffin bestowed upon his team last August, it would be fitting for Robison to take full advantage of a second chance at FAU.
“You watch him sprinting down the field to celebrate touchdowns with his team. I thought he just had a knack for making a lot of plays,” Kiffin said of Robison in August.
“Really smooth. Not the biggest guy. Not the strongest guy. But there’s guys like this winning a lot of college football games out there.”
With signing day less than three weeks away and spring camp two months away, Kiffin is looking for quarterback options.
Kiffin has added several graduate transfers and junior college players, but that was to improve depth at wide receiver and on the defensive line.
Adding a transfer quarterback and expecting him to start right off the bat? That’s a tougher scenario, especially with the early enrollment date for spring camp having passed earlier this week.
Justice returning? There is rising speculation that former Owls offensive line coach Garin Justice — who took a job with Rich Rodriguez’s Arizona Wildcats after the Boca Raton Bowl — could return in the same position.
Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reported Wednesday night that Justice is not expected to be retained under new Wildcats coach Kevin Sumlin, who was hired this week to replace Rodriguez after the latter was fired for alleged sexual misconduct.
FAU has not yet replaced Justice, who coached three all-conference offensive linemen this season.