True freshman quarterback Zach Wilcke made his college debut against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, and the results were positive.
While Miami outran Southern Miss in the second half on its way to a 30-7 win in South Florida, Wilcke, a Hernando native, gave head coach Will Hall and the USM staff plenty of reason to be optimistic about the young passer.
Wilcke completed 16 of his 27 pass attempts for 207 yards, one touchdown and an interception against the Hurricanes. He got the start in place of Ty Keyes, who was injured in the season-opener against Liberty. Now, with Keyes on the mend, Hall has a decision to make.
“It impacted (our decision-making) a lot,” Hall said during the Sun Belt coaches call on Monday. “We play the best player. We’re really proud of Zach and how he handled it. We knew it would be a game where he would have a chance to play well because of the type of defense he was going against. Miami is very simple on defense... we thought Zach handled it. Zach is a really talented passer, we said that from the get-go.”
Wilcke is the first scholarship quarterback to throw for at least 200 yards in the Hall era.
Hall usually releases an updated depth chart on Wednesday after early-week practices.
“We started two freshmen quarterbacks in two different games and they both made some good plays,” Hall said. “They also both made some plays we’d like to have back. We’re evaluating. We got competition Tuesday tomorrow. The positive is we got two really young kids that are really talented and have bright futures to work with.”
Southern Miss, searching for its first win of the season, hosts Northwestern State on Saturday at The Rock. It is a 6 p.m. kickoff, and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 12:47 PM.
