ORLANDO, Fla. — The final vestiges of a previous regime are falling away at UCF as Scott Frost’s roster inches closer and closer to a custom design, laying claim to each and every quarterback that may see the field this year. It is the first position group to be completely re-tooled.
Pete DiNovo’s departure this season came as a surprise to most on the outside – but the man named the heir apparent to Blake Bortles (short lived as it was) didn’t complete a pass in 2015, and had fallen on the depth chart.
UCF Football belongs to the new guys.
McKenzie Milton, Noah Vedral, and Darriel Mack Jr. were hand-picked by this coaching staff to breathe life into the fast-paced program promised by Frost’s arrival.
“Well the first thing we looked at, obviously must from a football standpoint, was are they athletic?” said Quarterbacks Coach Mario Verduzco. “Are they light on their feet? Can they make plays with their legs?”
Behind McKenzie, no quarterback has attempted a pass at the collegiate level, no quarterback has even slipped on shoulder pads and stood on the sideline during live action. Whatever side conversations that may have been had on a quarterback competition should be put to the side as the season begins – even if the backups have been under an intense spotlight.
“Everybody wants to compete. Quarterback is the one position in football that only one guy can play and we all know that, but we all buy into it too. It’s competition that brings the best out of everybody,” said Milton.
That does not mean Freshmen Noah Vedral and Darriel Mack Jr. won’t see the field. Questions along the offensive line, a scrambling McKenzie and a thirst to see what the young guns can do will all play a part in their playing time.
“We don’t look at them as being freshmen,” Verduzco insisted. “They’re young guys that have to be ready to go, they have done a lot of work since they signed their national letter of intent to now to be ready to go.”
The entire playbook has been thrown at the pair through fall camp, but each and every game week will have a contingency plan in place for a baptism by fire. Each and every week, UCF is a play away from having their quarterback’s bell rung and handing over the keys to an eighteen-year old who’s never driven before.
It’s a terrifying proposition, and why you will see the coaching staff make a change at quarterback at the slightest whiff of a blowout in either direction. These guys are going to need some action to be any real value as insulation.
McKenzie dealt with durability issues from the start of fall camp before his redshirt was burned, and effectively missed two weeks last season after an injury at FIU – officially sitting for the ECU game and getting an extra week of rest from the grace of a tropical storm.
UCF surrendered 35 sacks last year, and McKenzie took off a hundred times from the pocket in only ten games. That’s upwards of ten hits a game if Milton can get out of bounds or on the ground for some of those runs, but it is not an encouraging number for keeping your quarterback upright.
Both Vedral and Mack are prototypical athletes for the system, in theory, so there is that bit of good news. Experiments and garbage time aside though? This is McKenzie’s job through and through, having earned it on the fly during the First Frost.
The future of the position has arrived in Orlando.
