by Patrick Zier | Feb 21, 2026 |
This is the fourth in a five-part series on the quarterback position at the state’s major universities. Today, UCF.
It really hasn’t been because they haven’t had a quarterback. Have they had a Blake Bortles? No. A Dillon Gabriel? No. But ever since UCF took a step up to the Big 12 in 2023, it hasn’t really been held back because of its quarterbacks.
John Rhys Plumlee was pretty good in 2023 before he left for Ole Miss. K.J. Jefferson was thought to be one of the better quarterback prospects in the country when he enrolled at Arkansas and led the Hogs to a 9-4 record before transferring to UCF.
And last year, Tayven Jackson was solid and made some big plays, although his season was marred by injuries and he didn’t ignite the offense like Coach Scott Frost, in his second go-round at UCF, wanted.
So Jackson left. He didn’t really want to go, but Frost really didn’t want him to stay, so…
“It doesn’t make any sense to comment on any individual; you know, this is college football now, it’s a crazy time,” Frost remarked on UCF’s football website after Jackson left.
“We have to decide what’s best for our team and who needs to stay and who needs to go, and players need to decide what’s best for them and who wants to stay and who isn’t going to stay,” Frost commented.
So now, Jackson is at North Texas and Central Florida is looking for a new starting quarterback – again. And Frost and UCF General Manager Trent Mossbrucker, in charge of football player personnel, acquisitions and roster management, think they’ve found him in Alonzo Barnett III.
Last season, playing for James Madison, Barnett was the Sun Belt Player of the year after guiding the team to the College Football Playoffs. He was 213 of 355 for 2,598 yards with 26 touchdowns and just four interceptions throwing the ball and ran for 442 yards and four touchdowns.
CBS Sports ranked him as the 22nd best pickup among transfer portal quarterbacks and ESPN had him at No. 21. Interestingly, Miami’s Darian Mensah was No. 1 in the CBS rankings and No. 3 at ESPN, and Florida’s Aaron Philo, although he has no starting experience, was ranked No. 18 by CBS and No. 12 by ESPN based on his potential.
Florida State’s Ashton Daniels was not ranked in either poll.
“What I love more than anything about Alonzo is he’s a winner and he’s a proven winner,” Frost commented on UCF’s football website. “I think when you’re a really good team, you have really exceptional leadership from that position (quarterback).
“You have somebody that’s tough, somebody that other people want to get behind and play for and believe in. So, not even speaking about the talent that he brings, just really impressed with his demeanor and excited about the level of toughness and leadership that we should get from him,” Frost said.
“Obviously, a lot of the quarterback evaluation, everything that was going on has been going on for a long time,” Frost continued. “There’s a lot of skilled players that when you talk to their agents about potentially coming to our school, one of their first questions is ‘who’s the quarterback going to be?’
“That made getting a quarterback a priority for us for more reasons than the obvious ones. It would be a priority anyway, but I think that’s one of the first dominoes that needed to fall in order for us to fill out the team with the players we were able to bring in,” Frost declared.
“I think Alonza is a guy that can really throw it. I think he plays courageously, stands in the pocket when he needs to make throws, takes off when he needs to.
“Probably a better athlete then some people realize, but, you know, he was able to accomplish a lot of really good things at James Madison and hats off to them,” Frost said.
“We expect the same kind of production from him at this level,” Frost added. “I think he can do everything really well. So, we’re looking forward to getting him with the rest of the guys and just seeing how it all comes together.
“But, you know, we’re definitely approaching this year with the thought we have our No. 1 quarterback, and I think the battle is for two, three and beyond,” Frost said.
Vying to back up Barnett will be Kaleb Annett, who came over from Boise State and has not played, and Keyone Jenkins, who appeared in 33 games for FIU with 20 starts.
But in Barnett, UCF has it’s man, a guy they hope can make the Knights relevant again, only this time at a Power 4 level.
Next, USF.
by Patrick Zier | Feb 18, 2026 |
This is the third in a five-part series on the quarterback position at the state’s major universities. Today, FSU.
It isn’t too much of a stretch to say that whoever wins the quarterback job at Florida State will have one major challenge. Simply put, he will be asked to save the program.
FSU Coach Mike Norvell has to get this right. His job depends on it. FSU must become relevant again. And to be relevant in today’s college football, you need to have a top-of-the-line quarterback. If you don’t have that piece, whatever else you have really doesn’t matter.
And as the Seminoles head for what is likely a make-or-break season, the quarterback position is in a state of flux. Tommy Castellanos, the brash transfer from Boston College who called out Alabama before last year’s season opener and then backed it up with a huge win, lit a spark but it flickered and died.
Now, it’s up to somebody else. Maybe Ashton Daniels, who came over from Auburn. Daniels played three years at Stanford before transferring to Auburn last year.
Or maybe Kevin Sperry. Sperry was the No. 12-rated prep quarterback in the country when he came out of high school, and looked good in a brief, three-game appearance with the ‘Noles last season.
The thing is, unless the inexperienced Sperry can make a huge jump, FSU doesn’t have a real playmaker at quarterback. There’s nobody back there who can take over and win games for you.
Despite a lot of positive talk from Norvell about the available talent, right now, it seems mediocre at best. Over his career, Daniels has played in 37 games and started 23 but he has been turnover prone – as he himself concedes – and has never been able to establish himself as a starter.
He wasn’t highly regarded when he entered the portal and there is some thought the Seminoles took him because he was all they could get.
“I’m really excited about the (quarterback) room,” Norvell said recently on the AAC Network’s Inside ACCess. “Anytime you bring in a transfer quarterback who has experience, and Ashton (Daniels) has played a lot of football; I think this last year you saw him going into Auburn and redshirting throughout the course of the year and playing in those last few games, you saw growth in his productivity late in the season,” Norvell commented.
“We do have big expectations for what he is going to look like here at Florida State and I’ve got a lot of confidence in all the guys we have here in our quarterback room,” Norvell declared.
If Daniels doesn’t show championship form; Norvell has said repeatedly that he expects FSU to compete for championships this year, then the load may fall on Sperry. Sperry is regarded as Florida State’s future at quarterback, but it may turn out that the future is now, whether he’s ready or not.
“Kevin Sperry is a very talented young man who is excited to compete and that is what these guys are gonna do,” Norvell said. “Every day they’re gonna show up and put their best foot forward and push to lead this football team.
“When you’ve got a guy (Daniels) that is older, that has experience, there are high expectations for what that is going to look like,” Norvell said, “and I think Ashton is excited to get the opportunity.
“It (choosing a quarterback) will always be the most important decision you make on a football team,” Norvell continued. “The guys you bring in, their growth, their development, is something that’s essential for your team’s success.
“I’m really excited about the group that we have and I’m excited about the ability that they’ve shown,” Norvell declared. “There are so many factors that go into developing a roster and player acquisition, it all matters,” he added.
For his part, Daniels recognizes he hasn’t done enough during his career to walk in anywhere and expect to start. Darian Mensah he is not. “Regardless of where you go in college football nowadays, you’re going to have to compete,” Daniels said on FSU’s football website.
“Nothing is just handed to you. I’ve had that in my mindset everywhere I’ve gone in the past. I have a history of not taking care of the ball as well as I need to and I think at least this past year, I’ve seen a huge amount of development in that area,” Daniels remarked. “I just want a chance to compete.”
He’ll get that chance. But whether competing and winning at quarterback will translate into competing and winning on the field is another matter.
And if Florida State falters again, Daniels will be gone and so will Norvell. And FSU’s chances of rebuilding its shattered image? Well, they’ll probably be shot as well.
Next, UCF.
by Patrick Zier | Feb 16, 2026 |
This is the second in a five-part series on the quarterback position at the state’s major universities. Today, Florida.
A lot of people around Florida’s football program are trying to downplay it, trying to tell you it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, that Florida’s success or failure this fall depends on how well the players adapt to the new offense.
The quarterback, of course, will be a big part of that, but he won’t have to carry the team. You say things like that when you don’t have a quarterback who can carry the team or, at the very least, you aren’t sure if you have one.
And when it comes to the quarterback position, new Gator Coach Jon Sumrall isn’t really sure just what he does have. But he is optimistic. ” I like our quarterback room,” Sumrall declared recently at an impromptu press conference covered by several different new outlets.
“Is there a proven starter in that room? No. Are there guys I think can help us win football games here? Yeah. Now, we’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out what that looks like and who’s the starter and all that stuff.
“We’re a long way from making that decision. The players will make it for us,” Sumrall said. “The quarterback competition, the players decide, not me, by how they practice and how they play.”
Going into spring practice, all eyes are focused on Aaron Philo, who transferred in from Georgia Tech after his offensive coordinator there, Buster Faulkner, was hired by Sumrall to run Florida’s offense.
Some other key Tech players came along with Philo including wide receiver Bailey Stockton, center Harrison Moore and tight end Luke Harpring. All may start for the Gators, giving Florida a decidedly Tech flavor on offense.
Although he didn’t get a lot of attention when he came out of high school in Georgia, Philo has turned some heads during his two-year stint at Tech as Haynes King’s backup. In fact many regarded him as the best quarterback prospect in the portal excluding players who were starters.
In high school, Philo put up some impressive numbers. He threw for 13,922 yards during his career, breaking Trevor Lawrence’s state record, and had 56 touchdown passes his senior season, tying another state mark.
But what really sets Philo apart, separates him from the rest, is the way he played his freshman season at Tech in the game against Wake Forest. Despite the picture Florida is trying to paint about not needing a game-breaking quarterback to make the offense work, college football has changed.
You can’t win championships, either in the SEC or on a national level, without a quarterback who can carry the team when necessary. A guy who comes up big in the big moment. And despite the fact he is still learning the position, Philo has already done that.
With Tech trailing, 29-23, with 1:30 left in the game, Philo led a 75-yard game-winning drive, racing 18 yards to score the winning touchdown with 22 seconds to play and personally accounting for every yard, going 4-for-4 for 33 yards and running three times for 42 more in the 30-29 win.
“Buster (Faulkner) has extreme confidence in him,” Sumrall said according to Carter’s Corner on the Florida football website. “As I did my homework, I think the place he was at (Georgia Tech), they didn’t want him to leave. There’s a lot of people there who felt like he was ready to be the starter there.
“I watched him in high school. He carries himself the right way and I go back to past experiences,” Sumrall said. “We started Darian Mensah my first year at Tulane and he had never taken a collegiate snap.
“I get it, it’s the American Conference and not the SEC, right? So they’re a little bit different. But man, if you’ve got the right guy, sometimes I think experience can be oversold. There’s a lot of guys who are experienced who are not very good,” Sumrall remarked.
“I believe in what he (Philo) is about because Buster feels comfortable with him and has confidence in what he’s going to be,” Sumrall concluded.
What he’s probably going to be in Florida’s starting quarterback, a big step up from being behind King at Tech. If he plays like he did against Wake Forest, though, it’s a step he’s ready to make. And if he makes it, Florida might just take a big step up as well.
Next: FSU.
