Breaking Down Top College Football QB Battles Following Key Spring Games
April 17-18 could have been called "Quarterback Battle Weekend" because of the high-profile position battles in team spring games. Of the more than 40 spring games this past weekend, seven took center stage because of quarterback competitions: Alabama, Auburn, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas.
Did we get a ton of answers coming out of the weekend? Not quite.
In fact, almost all of the aforementioned quarterback battles will continue into the summer months and preseason camp. Those underway at Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame and Texas, are still a dead heat. Others, like those at Ohio State and Louisville, won't really kick off until later because of injuries.
Still, last weekend provided a glimpse at where things stood. Here's what we learned from the major quarterback battles based on performances and coach quotes.
Alabama
1 of 7
As B/R's Marc Torrence opined, spring-game performances can only tell you so much. Good performances don't mean a player has nailed down a starting job and bad performances don't mean a player is bound to ride the bench.
That said, Alabama's quarterback competition didn't lean in any particular direction during Saturday's spring game. All five signal-callers had good and bad moments, and sometimes, play-calling limitations dictated performances to a degree. Jake Coker completed 14 of 28 passes for 183 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but he was with the starting offense.
Here was head coach Nick Saban's take, per Torrence:
"You kind of take the plays that the quarterback couldn’t make, because he didn’t have a chance to make, and you really can’t fault him for that. You take the opportunities that maybe they had where they had protection, they had time, they had open people—did they throw the ball to the right place? Were they able to throw it accurately? Did they make good decisions? I think you have to sort of separate the things that they can control and the things that they can’t control and sort of evaluate it that way.
"
Is Coker the front-runner? Perhaps, but the competition will carry on for a while longer.
Auburn
2 of 7
Heading into last Saturday's spring game, Auburn's quarterback competition may have been a competition in name only. If you're of that line of thought, Jeremy Johnson's performance validated it.
Johnson completed 14 of 22 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns—by halftime. As Joel Erickson of AL.com reported, head coach Gus Malzahn unofficially tipped off how he felt about Johnson:
"His plan for A-Day might have showed his hand a little. Auburn essentially pitted its starters against the backups, mixing and matching a few positions—like running back and wide receiver—where there isn't a clear leader yet.
Johnson, a rising junior who spent two seasons backing up Marshall, only took snaps with the No. 1 offense.
"
"He had real good command of our offense," Malzahn said of Johnson, according to Erickson. "I thought he held the ball too long on a couple of plays, but overall, I thought he did a really good job."
On Monday afternoon, Malzahn tweeted that Johnson would be the starting quarterback, ending the worst-kept secret in football.
Louisville
3 of 7
With Will Gardner, the Week 1 starter last year, still recovering from a season-ending knee injury, it's been the Reggie Bonnafon show during Louisville's spring practices.
That didn't change in the spring game.
Bonnafon had 238 passing yards, 37 rushing yards and two total touchdowns in the Saturday scrimmage, though his performance came against the second-team defense. The takeaway was that the sophomore played the entire first half with the first-team offense, according to Steve Jones of The Courier-Journal in Louisville.
"Bonnafon makes plays," added Rick Bozich of WDRB.com. "His accuracy looked improved. His upper body is stronger. Bonnafon is also the guy who can dance around missed blocks and through broken plays to deliver unexpected yardage."
Head coach Bobby Petrino didn't name a starter, but suffice it to say preseason practice will likely be a two-man race between Bonnafon and Gardner.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
LSU
4 of 7
While the quarterback competition at LSU remains a developing story, the overall vibe throughout spring was that both quarterbacks, Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris, had improved.
That certainly looked to be the case in the Tigers' spring game, as David Ching of ESPN.com reported:
"Combining their totals from reps with both squads, Harris was 11-for-17 for 178 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and Jennings was 13-for-20 for 242 yards and two scores.
Jennings still made a few shaky throws, but nowhere near as many as in the average LSU game last season—or even in last year's spring game, when he had two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
"
Harris had, by most accounts, more flashy plays, but he's going to have a few of those because of his athleticism. Jennings was still inconsistent at times but seemed to have a better command of the offense. For what it's worth, he also went against backups.
Even though the competition remains close, Jennings has almost always had the edge throughout spring. The junior, of course, only completed 48.9 percent of his passes a year ago and had just 11 touchdowns to seven interceptions. However, if Jennings shows he can make better decisions and move the chains, there's no reason he can't be a quality starter.
Harris might give the offense more flash, but he needs to provide more than that.
Notre Dame
5 of 7
If Ohio State has three quarterbacks it can win with, Notre Dame feels it has two. In fact, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said last week he would take his two signal-callers, Everett Golson and Malik Zaire, over anyone—even the three Buckeyes.
Kelly's confidence and coachspeak raised more than a few eyebrows, to say the least. However, the Irish do have two quarterbacks on the roster who have won games. There's a difference in experience—Golson has started 23 games while Zaire has started just one—but both have tremendous talent.
There was no separation between the two in Notre Dame's spring game. Both played with the first- and second-team offenses. Word on the competition has been generally hush-hush as well. Zaire has rarely been made available and Golson hasn't spoken at all this spring. Kelly, meanwhile, has done nothing but praise both players.
It's possible that both could see the field next year, either in alternating or complementary roles.
Ohio State
6 of 7
Speaking of the Buckeyes, spring football for Ohio State is just now ending, but the quarterback competition is only beginning.
With J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller sidelined with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively, Cardale Jones, who started three games in 2014-15, has been the No. 1 guy in spring. His performance on Saturday was hit-and-miss. Jones had two touchdowns, but also threw two picks and was sacked a few times.
"That wasn't a Cardale day,” head coach Urban Meyer said, according to Bill Bender of Sporting News. “I could give you a bunch of excuses, but he's gotta be much sharper than that. For the spring, I'd give him a very good spring."
Once Barrett and Miller approach 100 percent in the summer, the Buckeyes' quarterback competition will heat up. The question will then become whether or not Jones developed enough during the offseason to overtake the other two, and if those two are rusty at all.
As of last fall, the depth chart was Miller, Barrett and Jones, in that order.
Texas
7 of 7
The story of Texas' quarterback competition is the same exiting the spring as it was leading up to the spring game. Junior Tyrone Swoopes is the starter at the moment with redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard trying to close the gap.
“Ty is still the No. 1 guy at this point," head coach Charlie Strong said, according to Chuck Carlton of The Dallas Morning News.
However, Swoopes was at the center of a bizarre incident in the spring game. Surely by accident, and perhaps out of frustration, Swoopes threw a pass out of bounds that hit a fan in the face:
"In the third quarter of Saturday’s spring game, Swoopes provided fodder to Jerrod Heard’s supporters by uncorking a regrettable pass that smoked a boy in the nose a few rows up on the east side of Royal-Memorial Stadium.
Charlie Strong later commanded his quarterback to walk over and apologize, presumably because Strong had sensed Swoopes’ act was born in frustration and had exceeded the distance for simply throwing the ball away to avoid a sack.
"
Heard perhaps had the better showing, but decisions aren't made on the basis of one spring game. It's still Swoopes then Heard heading into the summer. If Heard is going to be the Week 1 starter, he has to have a stellar summer and preseason camp.
"I wouldn't be afraid [to start Heard against Notre Dame] because you look and it's an experienced offensive line, or you look at the wide receivers," Strong said, according to Louis Ojeda Jr. of Fox Sports Southwest. "The thing about it is I hope I don't have to go into that game to start a redshirt freshman."
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer on college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
