BOCA RATON – FAU players, including the quarterbacks themselves, will know what their coaches plan to do at the quarterback position for Friday’s season opener against Navy before Thursday’s practice.
The public? They might have to wait until kickoff.
“I don’t know if you’ll be aware of it,” Kiffin told the media on Monday. “Our players will be.”
Kiffin said he wanted to give the players at least one practice prior the Navy game with knowledge of the decision. And he still hasn’t ruled out using more than one quarterback against the Midshipmen.
“You’d want them to know at practice – that last, final practice – who their guy was and who they were playing with,” Kiffin said. “And it could be multiple guys.”
Kiffin said JUCO transfer and Last Chance U star De’Andre Johnson participated during Monday’s practice in a limited manner, more than he’d been able to do in about a week.
Jason Driskel and Daniel Parr continued to split reps as part of the three-way battle to be the Owls’ signal caller.
“Someone else will tag me out, or I’ll tag someone else out,” Driskel said of the rotation.
Driskel, the incumbent, said the battle hasn’t hampered his preparation for Navy. The possibility that two quarterbacks could play isn’t a distraction, either.
“Your level of preparation should be consistent,” Driskel said. “That’s what gets you starting. That’s what gets you playing. That’s what, if you do play, is going to keep you on the field.”
One by-product of Kiffin holding off announcing a starter is that all three quarterbacks have to prepare as though they are going to be the guy.
That can be beneficial.
“Maybe that’s the reason they haven’t named one person to start yet,” Parr mused.
Parr and Driskel battled last year for the starting spot, with Driskel starting 11 of the 12 games. Both players saw at least one series in nine of the games last season.
Two years ago, with senior Quez Johnson the starting quarterback, then-coach Charlie Partridge tried to use Driskel for at least a series or two in each game.
Should Kiffin elect two use a two-quarterback rotation against Navy, and have one of those QBs be the redshirt junior, Driskel doesn’t think his experience in a quarterback rotation over the past two seasons will be all that helpful.
“Preparation in the spring time and the summer, this month leading up to the first game, that’s going to give you the preparedness, not knowing that I might play or I might not,” Driskel said.
Johnson did not speak with the media on Monday because of a previous engagement but is expected to do so in the coming days.
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