With college football season almost here, which QB competitions still need to be settled?
As the 2024 college football season approaches, there are a few notable teams still trying to figure out who their starting quarterbacks will be.
And no, Texas is not one of those teams. Quinn Ewers is back after a stellar 2023 season and he'll be backed up by Arch Manning. The former five-star recruit spent much of his freshman season as the Longhorns' No. 3 QB.
However, there are at least two blue bloods that are having QB competitions as the season approaches. Here are some of the teams that haven't officially decided on a starter.
USC
Who will be Caleb Williams’ successor? Miller Moss got the first shot at the end of the 2023 season and seems to be the favorite to start, but former UNLV QB Jayden Maiava also has a chance to be the team’s Week 1 starter.
Moss threw for 372 yards and six touchdowns in the Trojans’ 42-28 Holiday Bowl win over Louisville last season. Williams missed that game after opting out before the 2024 NFL Draft. Maiava, meanwhile, emerged as the Rebels’ top QB as a freshman last season as UNLV made a run to the Mountain West title game. Maiava threw for over 3,000 yards and had 20 total touchdowns.
Maiava initially transferred to Georgia after the 2023 season before picking USC. With Carson Beck entrenched at Georgia, he has a much better chance of starting in 2024 with the Trojans.
It would behoove USC to have either Moss or Maiava emerge as the undisputed starter in August. The Trojans’ schedule is tough to start the season. USC plays LSU to open the season and the third game of the season is at Michigan.
Ohio State
We’ll start this by saying it’ll be a massive surprise if Kansas State transfer Will Howard isn’t the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes this season. Howard is a preseason Heisman favorite and looks to be a good fit for Chip Kelly in his first season as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
However, head coach Ryan Day went through the spring without officially naming a starter, and the competition in the Ohio State QB room could be very intriguing even if Howard wins the job easily.
After Kyle McCord transferred at the end of the 2023 season, Ohio State entered the Cotton Bowl with Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz as the team’s top two options. Brown got injured and Kienholz looked overmatched.
Both players are back for this season along with true freshmen Julian Sayin and Air Noland. Both players were five-star members of the 2024 recruiting class. Given the nature of college football, it’s highly unlikely that all four players (presumably) behind Howard will be back with the Buckeyes in 2025. The QB pecking order that develops this fall will have ramifications for 2024 and beyond at Ohio State.
Nebraska
Heinrich Haarberg steadied the ship for the Huskers in 2023 after Jeff Sims was plagued by turnovers at the start of the season. Haarberg appeared in 10 games last season and threw for 967 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 477 yards on 120 carries.
As you can see, those are far from spectacular numbers. That’s why five-star freshman Dylan Raiola is considered to be the favorite to start right away at Nebraska. The son of former Nebraska offensive lineman Dominic Raiola was the No. 2 player in the class of 2024 and the top quarterback, according to Rivals. He may have some growing pains in his first season, but Nebraska’s upside looks to be a lot higher with Raiola starting in Week 1.
Tulane
Kai Horton wasn’t overwhelmed when filling in for Michael Pratt during the 2023 season. Over five games, Horton threw for 604 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was just 13 of 20 passing for 119 yards in a rainy Military Bowl loss to Virginia Tech.
As head coach Willie Fritz moved on to Houston at the end of the season, new Green Wave coach Jon Sumrall added former Oregon QB Ty Thompson to compete with Horton. Thompson was a five-star recruit in the class of 2021 and spent the last two seasons backing up Bo Nix with the Ducks. Thompson is the favorite to win the starting job as Tulane hopes to win the American Athletic Conference and compete for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.
North Carolina
The Tar Heels made it clear that the starting quarterback competition isn’t decided when head coach Mack Brown brought both Max Johnson and Conner Harrell to ACC media days.
Harrell spent the 2023 season as Drake Maye’s backup. He started the Tar Heels’ 30-10 blowout loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl after Maye had opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Johnson arrives after spending two seasons at LSU and two seasons at Texas A&M. He threw for over 1,400 yards across eight games a season ago with the Aggies. Johnson had his best season in 2021 for the Tigers when he completed 60% of his passes and threw for 2,814 yards and 27 TDs.
BYU
Gerry Bohanon transferred to BYU for his seventh season of college football after not playing last season at South Florida. Bohanon spent the first four seasons of his career at Baylor and threw for 2,205 yards and 18 TDs in 2021 before transferring to USF.
BYU added Bohanon after Jake Retzlaff played at the end of the season for an injured Kedon Slovis. Retzlaff is back in 2024 after completing 50% of his passes for 648 yards and three TDs with three interceptions. He also rushed for 116 yards and three scores.
Arizona State
There’s been a lot of turnover in the QB room at ASU. Jaden Rashada transferred to Georgia and former Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne left for Missouri. The lone holdover who saw playing time in 2023 is Trenton Bourguet.
Bourguet has thrown 12 TDs across 15 games in 2022 and 2023. However, just one of those TDs came in 2023 and he threw 248 passes last season. Former Nebraska and Georgia Tech QB Jeff Sims is now in Tempe to compete with Bourguet for the starting job and so is former Michigan State QB Sam Leavitt. He played in four games a season ago for the Spartans.
