Murky picture at QB for Knights
Heupel won’t tip hand as 4 quarterbacks play during spring game
Darriel Mack Jr. emerged from the tunnel to UCF’s locker room and turned to his teammates before leading the Knights onto the field for the Knights’ annual spring game at Spectrum Stadium Saturday.
The move was sure to spark speculation among the fans that the redshirt sophomore may be the favorite to claim the starting quarterback job when the season kicks off in August. Adding to the hype was a 33-yard touchdown pass from Mack to Jacob Harris on the second play of the game.
Mack was part of a quarterback rotation that included Notre Dame graduate transfer Brandon Wimbush, redshirt freshman Quadry Jones and true freshman Dillon Gabriel.
All four quarterbacks got a chance to make plays, earning a mix of praise and criticism for their performances.
“Some good and some bad,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said of the four quarterbacks who have been involved in an open competition this spring for the job. “I thought today was not any of their best days collectively from start to finish.”
Heupel refused to say whether any of the players separated themselves from the pack following Saturday’s performance.
“You’ve got to go back and watch it and dissect some things that happened. We have not had a ton of separation. Guys have played really well and all of them have had a day or two where they haven’t played their best. I do think we have great competition there. I think they’re pushing each other in a positive way. The strength of that group can never be one guy; it’s going to have to be collectively as a group.”
Mack said he wasn’t concerned about winning the starting job Saturday.
“That’s not what I was focusing on today,” said Mack, who finished 10-of-23 passing for 171 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. “I was focused on just going out there and getting better. I am not really worried about the competition and things like that. All I can do is be who I am and let the rest take care of itself.”
Wimbush, who finished the day 6-of-15 passing for 92 yards and a touchdown, leads the group with 16 career starts. He said he believes everyone has grown during the
Knights’ 15 spring practices.
“I thought I saw significant improvement not from just myself but from the entire quarterback room, so I’m excited about that and where it leads us going into the summer,” he said.
Jones had the big play of the day, a 73-yard touchdown pass to Rahsaan Lewis in the second half. Gabriel was 3-of-11 passing for 56 yards and added 30 rushing yards.
Other than the quarterbacks, Heupel was pleased with the offense. He praised the running game, which was led by young tailbacks Bentavious Thompson and Trillion Coles.
“All I had to do is be patient and I knew my time would said of spring.
The come,” Thompson his emergence this
redshirt
sophomore led the team with 110 rushing yards on 12 carries, including an 18-yard touchdown in the first half.
Coles carried the times for 95 yards.
Veterans Adrian Killins (4 carries, 15 yards), Greg McCrae ball 13 (4 carries, 20 yards) and Otis Anderson (3 carries, 20 yards) saw limited action.
One area of concern this spring has been the defensive line, which must replace a group of starters from last season. Heupel said he needs to see more out of the group during the summer.
“Going into today it was true and coming out of it, I just think we have to be better inside,” Heupel said. “We have to start changing the line of scrimmage on the interior. The guys that graduated and missing them, interiorly, we’re still not where we need to be.
“We have to have a great sense of urgency of those guys pushing and becoming guys that we can count on to play at a championship level every single day.”
Heupel said the coaching staff may look at bringing in help for the line, perhaps adding a graduate transfer in the summer. Another option is moving a player into the spot as the staff did with Kalia Davis, who went from linebacker to defensive line.
Davis finished the spring game with four tackles and two sacks.