Monday, August 6, 2018
By Brett Shweky/Sports Director
The search for the Panthers’ next starting quarterback is heating up with training camp now underway. Two signal-callers have surfaced as the leading candidates for the job and will continue to battle it out throughout camp.
“We got competition which I love,” said head coach Butch Davis. “You know Christian Alexander was the starting quarterback during spring. He was the guy that separated himself from the rest of the quarterbacks that were there. Now, we have James Morgan that’s coming in as a grad-transfer from Bowling Green. They’re both smart, they both have really strong arms, they’re big and physical. I want them to compete to see who ends up actually winning the job.”
Morgan has the most experience out of all the quarterbacks on the roster with him having appeared in 19 games during his tenure with Bowling Green. However, the graduate transfer suffered from inconsistency issues throughout his time with the program. He finished his career with 25 passing touchdowns, 22 interceptions, and a 51.9 completion percentage.
Alexander managed to separate himself from the other quarterbacks on the roster during spring training despite having only played in four career games for the Panthers. His best performance came against Old Dominion in 2016 when he came in for relief and managed to complete 8 of his 17 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown.
“You have to put them equally in every single situation. They have to be in two-minute drills, blitz drills, red zone drills, backed up drills,” said Davis on how he’s evaluating both Morgan and Alexander. “You have to see how they go in when adversity strikes.”
Currently, Alexander is more familiar with the offensive system in place and offers more of a dual-threat option compared to Morgan. The grad-transfer during his time with Bowling Green only rushed for 168 yards on 71 attempts, while Alexander has flashed his rushing abilities throughout the spring training session.
Last season, the Panthers thrived having a dual-threat quarterback run and command the offense. Former quarterback Alex McGough was the team’s fourth-leading rusher last year which caused opposing defenses to plan more around just his passing. Now in the NFL, McGough was a major part of the team’s success in 2017.
The team got a taste of life after McGough, who was a four-year starter for the team, during the Gasparilla Bowl last year when he was forced to exit the game due to a collarbone injury.
“We were totally unprepared for what happens when you’re starting quarterback goes down. Alex McGough had a phenomenal year last season. My god imagine what would have happened if he separated and broke his collarbone in week three or four,” said Davis. “I’ve told the quarterbacks, there is a real good possibility that we might try to play all two of them in almost every game.”
Coach Davis did acknowledge, however, that he hopes to pinpoint a starter at least a week before the opening game against the Indiana Hoosiers on Sept. 1 at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
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