By Brett Shweky/Sports Director
With Spring Training underway and former starting quarterback Alex McGough no longer at the helm for the Panthers, the team will need to find their next starter for the 2018 season.
“We learned a big lesson from the bowl game,” said Head Coach Butch Davis. “We clearly were not prepared for Alex [McGough] not to finish a game. Thank God he made it through 12 and he got hurt in the 13th game. If that injury had occurred in week three, four or five, it’s any eye opener for us.”
Redshirt-juniors Maurice Alexander and Christian Alexander and redshirt freshman Kaylan Wiggins will all be competing for the starting position during the spring session.
Maurice Alexander is the only quarterback out of the bunch with significant playing experience. The junior out of Booker T. Washington High School started four games for the Panthers in 2016 and also took over in the Gasparilla Bowl when McGough went down due to a broken collarbone.
He concluded the Gasparilla Bowl with 162 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns and two interceptions. Temple’s defense constantly pressured him and sacked him seven times. The Panthers fell to the Owls 28-3.
Christian Alexander in the four games he appeared in for FIU, threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns. The 6-3, 225-pound redshirt-junior had his best performance against the Old Dominion Monarchs in 2016, when he threw for 82 yards and one touchdown on 8-of-17 passing.
Wiggins has yet to appear in a game for the Panthers, however was a talented high school prospect. In 2015 and 2016, he was named a Florida All-State Class 8A Second Team selection, while he played for Seminole High School in Sanford, FL.
“We’re going to give all three of these guys an opportunity to win the job,” said Davis on the competition during the spring. “We’re going to teach them all exactly the same as if all of them we’re going to be the starting quarterback.”
The coaching staff won’t decide on starting quarterback until fall however, as Bowling Green transfer James Morgan and freshman Caleb Lynum have yet to showcase their skill sets. Both quarterbacks will join the team in fall.
Lynum is a 6-2 prospect out of East Ridge High School and has a chance to be a dynamic playmaker for the team in the future.
The dual-threat quarterback led his high school to a 7-4 record and helped them reach the Class 7A regional quarterfinals. During his senior year, he threw for 1,234 and 10 touchdowns, while also leading the team in rushing with 798 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Morgan will have the most experience out of the quarterbacks when joins the team in fall, as he played in 19 games for the Bowling Green Falcons. The junior out of Green Bay, WI, dealt with inconsistency issues however. He finished out his career in Bowling Green with 25 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, while completing 51.9 percent of his passes.
“We have to make sure our second team and third team quarterback are prepared to go in and win the game as well,” said Davis. The best example anyone can have is the Philadelphia Eagles. Their starting quarterback goes down and Nick Foles comes in and leads them to the Super Bowl.”
The quarterbacks competing for the starting job however, will have big shoes to fill. McGough was a four-year starter for the Panthers and became their all-time leader for passing touchdowns. He also became the first quarterback since Wes Carroll in 2011 to take the team to a bowl game.
“Yeah, it’s pretty strange,” said redshirt-senior running back Napoleon Maxwell on not having McGough in the huddle anymore. “Not hearing McGough’s voice is a big change.”
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