Hurricanes finally add a quarterback via portal; at Albany he was an FCS passing leader in 2023
There will be a quarterback competition this spring practice at the University of Miami.
The Hurricanes finally landed a transfer portal signal-caller this offseason when the FCS’s Albany star Reese Poffenbarger on Monday committed to the Hurricanes.
Poffenbarger, who put his name in the NCAA’s portal Dec. 20, threw for 36 touchdowns and 3,603 yards in 2023 — the most of any FCS quarterback. He was the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Rookie of the
Year in 2022 (2,999 passing yards, with 24 touchdowns and four interceptions) and the Jerry Rice Award Runner-Up.
Though he is known for his prolific arm, Poffenbarger also ran for 187 yards and five touchdowns this past season.
Poffenbarger, from Middletown, Maryland, is listed as 6-0 and 208 pounds and has two more seasons of eligibility. He just completed his redshirt sophomore season with the Great Danes after redshirting in 2021 for Old Dominion before transferring in 2022 to Albany.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Let’s get to work!” Poffenbarger posted on the social media site X, with the words “Committed to the U.’’
The Hurricanes have been seeking a transfer portal quarterback after veteran starter Tyler Van Dyke transferred to Wisconsin. With Van Dyke gone, soon-to-be redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown would have been the only healthy scholarship quarterback on the roster — other than not-yet-enrolled true freshman Judd Anderson, who will arrive on campus next week.
Rising sophomore Emory Williams, who started two of his five games this past season, sustained a compound fracture of his left arm at Florida State in November. Williams is still rehabbing.
UM missed out on signing Washington State transfer Cam Ward, considered by many as the top quarterback in the portal, when he announced he would instead enter the NFL Draft. Another highly rated transfer quarterback, Will Howard of Kansas State, also visited Miami, but chose Ohio State.
The Canes were also interested in the services of Big Ten passing yards record-holder Taulia Tagovailoa, the former
Maryland Terrapins (and Alabama) quarterback who is the younger brother of Dolphins quarterback Tua. Taulia, a graduate transfer, had his name entered last week in the transfer portal. Taulia has exhausted his NCAA eligibility, so the NCAA would have to grant him a waiver to play a sixth season.
The younger Tagovailoa has until the Jan. 15 deadline to enter the NFL Draft should he not get his waiver approved. But Poffenbarger’s arrival should provide some valuable competition for Brown, whose only game in 2023 came in the finale against Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.
UM lost 31-24 to Rutgers, but Brown had an encouraging performance. He was 20 of 31 (64.5 percent) for 181 yards and one touchdown, with an interception. He also ran for two touchdowns.
“Jacurri is locked in and ready to compete for the job and be the quarterback,’’ Ron Veal, Brown’s Atlanta-based private quarterbacks coach, told the Miami Herald last week. “That’s his thinking, and why not?”
Poffenbarger told
ESPN on Monday: “Albany will forever have a place in my heart, and we did a lot of special things. At the end of the day, I thought it was time to move on and put myself in the best position to compete for a national championship and one day play in the NFL.”
Poffenbarger’s sister, Saylor, was listed as a member of Team USA women’s basketball team, according to his Albany bio. She now is a 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore starter for Arkansas.
His mother, Amy, played basketball at Missouri.
This past season the Great Danes (11-4) ended their campaign with a 59-0 loss to South Dakota State in the FCS playoff semifinal. Poffenbarger threw three of his 13 interceptions this season in the finale. His completion percentage was 58.6.
Pro Football Focus, per 247Sports, gave Poffenbarger an 81.2 passing grade in 2023.
Poffenbarger was a first-team all-state quarterback at Middletown High. He threw for 6,500 yards, 67 touchdowns and had a 68 percent completion rate in high school, according to his Albany bio.