USC’s football program suffered a blow when Mater Dei 5-star quarterback Bryce Young decided to decommit from the Trojans’ Class of 2020 and commit to Alabama. That’s the bad news. The good news? USC may have landed his replacement just a day later.
On Monday, Jake Garcia, a 5-star Class of 2021 quarterback recruit from Narbonne (Calif.), committed to USC. Among Garcia’s other options were Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, LSU and Tennessee.
“It felt like home,” Garcia told 247Sports. “It’s a testament to the coaching over there when you have two new quarterbacks to the system step in and take over without missing a beat, just play and take over the team as a leader,” Garcia told USCFootball.com. “That was really impressive to me. I get a long with the coaching staff real well, Coach (Graham) Harrell, head coach Clay Helton. They have athletes over there. A lot, a lot of athletes….and a lot of my family can go to the games. I grew all around USC stuff when I was little. My whole family are SC fans so that’s really cool.”
All the ancillary benefits notwithstanding, USC’s ability to win, while adjusting to new quarterbacks on the fly, clearly had an impact on the teen. At 6-foot-2, 188 pounds, Garica is well on his way to developing “prototypical” elite quarterback. He still has more than a year of high school football remaining, and then a trip to the local, traditional college football power.
He may not make up for the loss of Young right away, but Garcia helps the Trojans get the cover they need at their most important position. That he arrives literally hours after Young’s unforeseen departure only adds additional salve to the Trojans recruiting wound.
