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From the Panthers to ... the Panthers.
In the offseason, it was revealed that Pitt backup quarterback Trey Anderson would be leaving the program. This week, we found out where he's headed.
Anderson will be playing for the Florida International Panthers and announced the news via Twitter:
Thrilled to announce I've officially committed to Florida International University for my last year.… https://t.co/18e27W7Kvq
— Trey Anderson (@Trey_Anderson10) March 31, 2015
Anderson sort of lucked his way into a scholarship at Pitt as Todd Graham took a flyer on him needing a mobile quarterback when he didn't appear to have any other D-I offers at the time. He was about to endure his third coaching change and outside of some mop-up duty and the brief quarterback controversy that wasn't with Tino Sunseri way back in 2011, he was relegated to the bench for his entire career.
With Nathan Peterman coming on board, Anderson almost certainly would have been knocked down to third-string. So what's the deal at FIU? Will Trey get his shot? You might think so but, ironically, his situation might not be much better there.
You might remember from when Pitt played FIU this past season that they used two quarterbacks early in the year - freshman Alex McGough and junior E.J. Hilliard. McGough eventually won the job and while Hilliard is transferring out of FIU, McGough will be back and the program may not want to stunt the development of their potential quarterback of the future. He wasn't great this past season (14 touchdowns, ten interceptions, and 1,680 yards) but was serviceable and should continue to get better.
Anderson will certainly have more of a shot at getting into games than he would have at Pitt this season. After all, primarily competing with a underclassman at a non-P5 program is a lot different than competing with two upperclassmen that are former four-star recruits (with one being the incumbent starter). But even with the drop down in competition, he still might not be guaranteeing himself any playing time.
But hey, I'm pulling for the kid.
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