BOCA RATON – Daniel Parr didn’t do enough on Sunday to supplant Jason Driskel as the Owls’ starting quarterback but he may have done well enough to earn playing time this week at Marshall.
“I’m confident Parr could go in and do some good things, but he’s still not ready to be the starter at this point,” Partridge said. “Jason is our starter.”
The Owls had hoped to see more of Parr this season, figuring he could get behind center in mop-up duty. The only times FAU has found themselves in such situations this season the Owls have been on the losing end of the blowout.
“You’d hope at some point during the season to be able to get him some game action at the end of games,” Partridge said. “That hasn’t presented itself. So in order to get him some game action we’re designating a series or two that we can get him in the game.”
Partridge decided early last week to give Parr the third series of that weekend’s game against Charlotte.
The redshirt freshman led the Owls down the field on his first drive before heading to the sideline with an hand injury. Driskel re-entered the game, and Buddy Howell capped the drive with the Owls’ first touchdown of the game.
Parr returned in the second half for two possessions. On the second one the Owls marched 64 yards in 12 plays, with Howell taking the ball the final three yards for his third touchdown of the game. Parr completed two of three passes on the TD drive, covering 26 yards.
“We’ll evaluate through the course of the week whether Daniel gets that opportunity there again in the first and second half,” Partridge said. “We’ll just take it as it goes.”
Partridge expects such game action will aid Parr’s development.
“I do see value in that,” Partridge said. “In those moments there’s things that are hard to coach until game action comes. You do your best to simulate it out on the field and create pressure throughout the entire season so that you see their response, but there’s nothing like game reps. It’s valuable.”
Parr is one of the most coveted recruits ever to come to FAU, choosing the Owls over Miami.
His final stat line against Charlotte: 5-of-10 passing for 50 yards, three rushes for three yards.
“It gave us an opportunity to coach some things that he still needs to clean up in game action,” Partridge said.
Driskel threw for 162 yards, completing 17 of 30 pass attempts. He also threw one important red zone interception.
Partridge said Driskel handled the decision to give Parr a couple of series well.
“I think it helped that Jason got the advantage of those opportunities last year, and [knew] how much it helped him, so that helped him absorb why we were doing it,” Partridge said.
I have been asking for Parr for a while now and we are finally getting him in there. Lets be honest, FAU is not going anywhere this season, play Parr. Coach P understands game action is important which is very true, so play him. Just a couple series and he leads them down the field with no real experience. Parr’s ceiling is twice as high as Driskel’s. I really think Parr is only thing that can save Coach P’s job if he shows signs of things to come for next season.