South Alabama Adds Two Quarterbacks To The Team
Matt Floyd as a South Florida Bull against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Raymond James Stadium on December 1, 2012. | Photo credit: Kim Klement-USA Today Sports
University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones officially announced that Matt Floyd will be joining the Jaguar football program this fall after he signed a Grant-In-Aid with the school.
Floyd, a 6’1″, 200-pound Milton, FL native, joins USA from South Florida with two years of eligibility remaining. He was voted team captain prior to the start of the 2013 season. After sitting out his redshirt season in 2011, he saw action as a redshirt freshman with a 20-for-35 and 175 yard performance at Miami and in his first career start at Cincinatti he went 21-of-39 for 176 yards. He started against McNeese State last season going 9-for-20 for 72 yards.
He also garnered attention off the field by receiving the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award in 2013, which honors a collegiate football player from the state of Florida or South Carolina each year who has impacted the lives of others through giving and community service. He was also named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team last season along with the BIG EAST All-Academic Team in 2012.
In high school at Milton High, he was a three year starter where he threw for 4,988 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in his career. In his senior season he led the area with 2,277 yards passing as he went 150-of-272 with 17 touchdowns as he earn Super Senior honors along with the IMG Academic All-Madden and First-Team All-Area squad honors. As a junior he threw for 1,711 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 112-of-205 passes to be named to the Second-Team All-Area team. As a sophomore he threw for 1,000 yards and five touchdowns while adding five more on the ground.
South Alabama recruited Floyd out of high school but ended up choosing South Florida instead. Jones said that he was recruited both for his athletic ability but also because of his character and leadership skills. He fits in a similar mold that Ross Metheny filled the last two seasons as a dual-threat quarterback who can both throw with a strong arm and run with good size. He should fit into the Jaguars offensive scheme well.
Along with Floyd, the Jags added quarterback Hunter Vaughn to the to team. Vaughn, a former Robertsdale High School and Butler (Kansas) Community College quarterback transferred to USA and joined the team this summer. He is another dual-threat quarterback that the Jags were recruiting but they already had a commitment that season. Vaughn will most likely redshirt this season and had three years of eligibility remaining.
With the two newcomers, the Jags have a nice stable of quarterbacks for the approaching season. Current number 1 quarterback Brandon Bridge, last year’s number 2 quarterback and a senior this season, is sitting in the drivers position for the starting spot after showing lots of improvement in the spring and flashes of greatness last season. Trey Fetner, a junior, who knows the offense and has been regularly used in short-yardage “wildcat” situations but has a good arm is currently pegged as the number 2. Grant Powell, a sophomore, who has a good arm and can run, but needs more time to get comfortable with his decision making and the offense. Dallas Davis, a freshman, who will most likely be redshirted this season who is another dual-threat quarterback who should fit well into the offensive scheme Robert Matthews has going.
South Alabama will begin their season on September 6 against Kent State with kickoff scheduled for 1pm CDT. The Jags finished 6-6 and bowl eligible in their first season as a full FBS member, but did not receive an invitation to a bowl game. They also finished third in the conference with a 4-3 record after a three-game winning streak to close out the season with a 30-8 win over conference co-champion Louisiana-Lafayette to cap off the season.