Three-Star Checkup: Under-the-radar QBs finding CFB stardom
Each week during the college football season we’ll use Wednesday as a chance to look back at former three-star prospects. This week we look at some unsung quarterback recruits who came through in big ways for their teams on Saturday.
MORE CHECKUPS: Five-star linebackers | Four-star safeties
As a recruit: Dungey put up big numbers as a high school player in the state of Oregon but not even that could help him get a sniff on the recruiting trail from schools in the Beaver State, let alone the Pac-12. Tennessee showed enough interest early in the process to get Dungey to visit campus, but the Vols never offered either. Eventually Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado State and others offered, but a late chance to play for Syracuse came in November of his senior season. Dungey picked up the offer, officially visited and committed to Orange within 10 days.
What he did this week: Dungey has been a playmaker for the Orange since arriving on campus in 2015 and he is playing a huge role in the program’s turnaround. In Friday night’s stunning upset victory over Clemson, Dungey had a terrific game, throwing for 278 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 61 more yards. Dungey is already making the schools that passed on him look bad and if he continues to play the way he has this season he will end up etching his name in the Syracuse record books.
As a recruit: A native of Hawaii, Milton was a longtime commitment to the Warriors, with his only flirtation coming with Oregon, where he won MVP of the Ducks summer camp, but never earned an offer. It wasn’t until UCF hired Scott Frost away from the Ducks that Milton received an offer from the Knights, and after initially rebuffing Frost’s overtures, Milton elected to take an official visit in January 2016. Just two weeks before National Signing Day, Frost sold Milton on being the centerpiece of the rebuilding efforts in Orlando and Milton flipped to the Knights.
What he did this week: Frost had plenty of success with Hawaiian quarterback Marcus Mariota at Oregon and now he’s having success once again with Milton in Orlando. The Knights are undefeated and blowing away the competition on a weekly basis, with Milton leading the attack. In Saturday’s blowout victory over East Carolina, Milton threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns. On the season Milton is completing 70 percent of his passes and has thrown for 15 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions. The 5-foot-11, 177-pound playmaker took quite the gamble leaving Hawaii to go play thousands of miles away, but so far things are paying off for him and the Knights.
As a recruit: A three-star from Jackson High in Miami, Flowers had a unique offer list compared to some of the other people in that same range during his class. Alabama, Clemson and Florida all offered Flowers, but saw him as an athlete rather than a quarterback. But Flowers saw a chance to play his natural position at USF and committed to the Bulls in October, 2013. Several other schools, including Nebraska and Florida, made a late run to try to flip Flowers, but he stuck with the Bulls.
What he did this week: Flowers has flourished in Tampa, first under coach Willie Taggart and this year under new coach Charlie Strong. The Bulls are 6-0 on the season and in Saturday’s blowout victory over Cincinnati, Flowers had another big game, throwing for 184 yards while rushing for 80 more and a touchdown. Flowers will likely finish his USF career with 8,000 yards passing and will go down in the record books as one of the best to ever play the position in the young history of the program.