Reese Poffenbarger to Transfer to Miami from Albany; QB Led FCS in TDs, Yards in 2023

The Miami Hurricanes have their quarterback from the transfer portal.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Hurricanes looked to the FCS ranks and grabbed Albany quarterback Reese Poffenbarger.

"Albany will forever have a place in my heart and we did a lot of special things," Poffenbarger said, per Thamel. "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 led the FCS in passing touchdowns and yards with 36 and 3,603 respectively. He helped Albany have the best turnaround in Division I football, going from 3-8 in 2022 to 11-4 in 2023 and advancing to the FCS semifinals.

The Hurricanes had been linked to former Power Five quarterbacks like Will Howard and Cam Ward during the earlier stages of the transfer portal, but Howard (Ohio State) and Ward (NFL draft) went elsewhere.

As a result, the Hurricanes will now turn to Poffenbarger, who will have the opportunity to showcase what he can do against higher competition.

The Hurricanes went 7-6 in 2023, losing out to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. It was the second season under head coach Mario Cristobal and Miami was committed to a shakeup at the quarterback position.

This led to incumbent starter Tyler Van Dyke entering the portal and eventually landing with the Wisconsin Badgers. Miami will hope to have Poffenbarger emulate the aforementioned Ward, who initially transferred to Washington State from FCS Incarnate Word and became one of the better Power Five signal-callers and eventually entered his name in the 2024 NFL Draft.