The Arizona Wildcats will start Jordan McCloud at quarterback on Saturday against the Oregon Ducks, according to Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star.
BREAKING: Transfer QB Jordan McCloud is expected to make his first career start for Arizona tonight vs. No. 3 Oregon.
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) September 26, 2021
The USF transfer already becomes the third quarterback to start for the Wildcats in four games. He made his UA debut last week against NAU, leading Arizona to a fourth-quarter touchdown on one of his two drives.
It’s not clear yet if other quarterbacks will see action against Oregon, though head coach Jedd Fisch said earlier in the week that he would prefer to only play one.
“The goal would be that,” Fisch said Thursday. “If there is a certain play or two (for another QB), that would be maybe a package play. But specifically, it would be wanting to play the quarterback the whole way, have a good battle and hopefully play the quarterback the whole rest of the season. That would be the ultimate plan of attack. That was our goal a couple of weeks ago, when we went with Gunner (Cruz) against San Diego State, and that was our goal last week with Will (Plummer).”
Cruz will likely be McCloud’s backup as Fisch said Thursday that Plummer is a “little dinged up” from the NAU game.
Plummer went 19 for 34 for 191 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions against NAU before getting replaced by McCloud, who was 6 of 7 for 66 yards and a TD.
McCloud, a fourth-year sophomore, is the most experienced of all of Arizona’s quarterbacks. He made 17 career starts at South Florida, where he threw for 2,836 yards, 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.