Mendoza pulls ahead in the QB competition to end spring ball
Former Indiana quarterback Alberto Mendoza was brought in to try to win the starting quarterback job and replace the ACC Player of the Year, Haynes King. Mendoza is a step closer to his goal of starting the season opener against Colorado as spring ball wraps up.
Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key amped up his praise of Mendoza the last two weeks. Key said he has settled into his role as leader of the offense.
“I’ve been very pleased with Berto, very pleased with his progression over the last two weeks, not just as the trigger man, but his overall leadership, how he’s running the offense, managing the offense, how he’s settling in to the role here,” Key said. “I’ve been very pleased with him and his development, not just over the course of spring, but especially over the last two weeks.”
Key tried to shrug off a direct question about Mendoza being the starter. But Key admitted the transfer quarterback is the guy as of now.
“I can’t predict the future, but if we started a game today, he would be the guy,” Key said. “It is pretty simple.”
Mendoza got off to a slow start in the annual spring game on Saturday. He settled in on the third drive and threw for 148 yards on 12-16 passing with a touchdown. That touchdown came on an 18-yard pass to Debron Gatling. Mendoza added another 19 yards on the ground and was not sacked in the game.
“I mean, you treat it like every other practice,” Mendoza said of his spring game performance. “I treat the games like practice and practice like games. You just have to come out here, treat it like just another day, and attack it. Because I attack every day like it is a game. I mean, you can’t treat other days different than than the games, because I think it’s important to attack everything like a game.”
Young QBs continue to push Mendoza
Mendoza fought off stiff competition in the spring. Redshirt freshman Grady Adamson stepped up less than a full year into his college experience. Veteran backup Graham Knowles also pushed the transfer quarterback, but Mendoza pulled away over the last two weeks. Both pushed Mendoza every week.
“All the other guys showed progress. There were two throws that Grady would love to have back now that were just like what in the world did that come from, but then there were some good ones in tight windows,” Key said.
Freshman quarterback Cole Bergeron had the throw on the day of his first pass, but Key said the youngster still has a lot of work to do as a true freshman early enrollee.
“How about the freshman? He can spin it now, but it’s gonna take a while. Cole’s gonna tell you it takes, it takes time to learn, not just the verbiage, and not just how to call the play, but within that, what you have to do on every play. But he’s got talent. He’s got big and really good arm talent,” Key said of his freshman QB.
