Coaches know more about the inner workings of their teams than I do. That’s another way of saying that writers who shout that one guy should be playing instead of another guy usually aren’t armed with all the facts.
That said, I only know what I saw Saturday during USF’s depressing 35-28 loss at Rice. I saw Izzy Carter play better at quarterback in the last 4:44 of the game than starter Bryce Archie did before he left the game after a big hit.
With the Bulls apparently dead in the water, down 21 points, Carter threw threw for 93 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in that short amount of time. We've been hearing all season how much confidence USF coach Alex Golesh has in Carter.
It's time to show it.
Assuming Byrum Brown isn’t in the mix to play again when the Bulls go to a bowl game, Carter should start.
There are several reasons why that should happen.
Archie has had some good moments since taking over after Brown was knocked out of the game on September 28 at Tulane. He also has been wildly inconsistent, as he was at Rice.
He was 19-of-35 passing for 227 yards, one touchdown, and one pick. He was sacked three times. It looked like the Owls concentrated on stopping USF’s explosive ground game and dared Archie to beat them.
He couldn’t do it.
When Archie was off-target, he frequently was way off. And in the interest of full disclosure, I tweeted in the second quarter that Golesh needed to make a change under center.
IMO @USFFootball needs a QB change in this game — and quickly
— Joe Henderson (@JHendersonTampa) November 30, 2024
The Bulls were behind at that point, and it didn’t look like they were coming back. I’m sure many USF fans felt the same thing.
So, why move Izzy into the starter’s job?
For starters, he is clearly a better athlete than Archie – more mobile and a better touch on his passes. I believe if the Bulls had five more minutes Saturday with Carter at quarterback, they would have won that game.
In an admittedly small sample size, Izzy has shown many of the traits Brown flashed last season. We know how electric that was.
Other teams have real game tape on him now, which is a lot more revealing than a few snaps in a mop-up role. He’ll have enticements to enter the transfer portal, if he hasn’t had them already.
Let’s not forget that Carter entered the portal on January 4 after last season when it looked like Brown had a headlock on the starter’s job. He pulled out four days later, but if he remains locked into a reserve role then who knows for sure that he won’t bolt this time.
If Golesh committed to giving Izzy the ball for the bowl game, he’d have multiple practice sessions with the first team. He would be ready to go.
Starting Carter in the bowl game might seem like a bold move, but would it really?
You start the guys who give you the best chance to win.
For the Bulls from this vantage point, that looks like Izzy Carter.