Ex-Alabama and Arizona State QB Blake Barnett is going to South Florida
Blake Barnett has found his third school. South Florida announced Friday that Barnett had joined the team.
Played at Alabama and Arizona State previously
The QB started his career at Alabama and transferred to Arizona State, where he played in the 2017 season. As a graduate transfer, Barnett will have two seasons of eligibility left and be able to play immediately.
Barnett opened the 2016 season as Alabama’s starting quarterback. But he was replaced by Jalen Hurts in the Tide’s blowout win over USC and never regained his role as the team’s starter. He transferred in the middle of the season with the goal of playing immediately at Arizona State and the ploy worked; Barnett was eligible at the start of the season.
While Barnett was eligible immediately, he didn’t play as much as he probably anticipated. He appeared in two games and threw five passes. With Manny Wilkins entrenched as the team’s starter and new coach Herm Edwards replacing Todd Graham, Barnett decided to move on again.
A ‘mistake’ to go to Arizona State
Barnett told CBS Sports that he should have done more research when transferring from Alabama.
“I made the mistake of going to a school that already established a starting quarterback, Barnett said. “That was my fault. It’s really hard to stray away from that, and I completely understand it. If [2017 head coach] Todd Graham and coach Napier were on the same page, they knew they had a guy from the year before and want to build off that. I completely understand that. I wish I would have thoroughly thought that through beforehand. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy my time in Tempe; I truly love Arizona State, I think it’s a great school and I think the program is headed in the right direction.”
What’s next at South Florida?
Barnett will be one of the quarterbacks competing to replace Quinton Flowers as the Bulls’ starting quarterback. Flowers was one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football over the past few seasons. In 2017, Flowers threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns while rushing for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns as the Bulls finished the season 10-2.
Barnett has the best pedigree of the QBs competing for the job among Brett Kean and Chris Oladokun. A top-ranked recruit in the class of 2015, Barnett was a four-star quarterback and the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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