The path to playing time: Three college QBs in their own words
Three major conference quarterbacks with different college experiences and paths to their starting roles, in their own words:
Trevone Boykin, TCU
On being a wide receiver as a sophomore: The whole week during practice I was doing quarterback stuff. I might go in for three plays as a receiver, but other than that I was still in the meeting rooms with the quarterbacks, I did everything with the quarterbacks, I just went out there and played receiver.
It helped me a lot, just knowing what those guys look for and how you can help those guys as far as putting the ball in certain places. Stuff like that helps you as an overall quarterback.
On what he's learning now: We talk about ball placement a lot. No matter if it's 10, 15, 20 yards, you might have a guy 5 yards away and you throwing it on one shoulder instead of the other shoulder might be the reason for him breaking a tackle and taking it for 6 or being caught for five yards. We talk about ball placement a lot and it's pretty important in our offense.
I was one of those guys that usually when I played receiver if the ball was there it was there, I didn't really care where it was. But if you want yac yards or yards after the catch, it's about ball placement. Coach (Sonny) Cumbie, he's really forced that into our head.
On building on last season: My attitude hasn't changed, my confidence level hasn't changed. I'm still going in with the same mindset that we're a different team, we haven't won any games this year, our first game is Minnesota Sept. 3 and that's where it all starts.
If it worked last year, it will work again. That's what we see.
Jared Goff, California
On winning the starting job as an 18-year-old early enrollee: I didn't know how college football worked, I didn't know how anything worked until I got into spring ball and got a little bit of a rhythm going. I started playing well and going like, 'I'm better than all these guys. I'm probably going to start. Or I think I should start.' And that's when I was like, 'Get ready, because you're going to have a chance to start now.'
On playing early vs. sitting and observing: Film can only do so much. It's easy to see what you did wrong when you're hitting play and pause, but when you're in the line of fire playing a real game, you can't replace that experience. That's why I think playing as a freshman and sophomore is so valuable.
On enrolling early in 2013: It was huge. It was the best decision I ever made, looking back on it. It was a huge helper for me. I would not have had the job if that hadn't happened, because I needed that summer and spring to get used to college football and get used to everything that had to do with it. My friend Christian Hackenberg started as a true freshman and didn't graduate early. That's impressive. I don't know how he did that.
Malik Zaire, Notre Dame
On being second-string for the majority of two seasons: It was very hard, but that's just in general. It's hard to be patient for me. But going through this experience like I have, I've learned to be a lot more patient. … Nobody likes sitting the bench, nobody likes not playing, but I think being able to get that opportunity and making the most of it meant a lot to me.
On his Music City Bowl experience: My confidence has always been there. The LSU game was just an opportunity to show other people that I'm here, too. I'm on the roster for a reason.
On his development: I know I can always get better. Going through those things where I wasn't able to get that job or wasn't able to make that play, it just shows that I needed to grow. I knew this was the best place for me to grow, being around so many great people and developing from there. I knew what I needed to work on. I knew I wasn't as good as I previously thought I was. In order to be the greatest, you've got to grow through things like that."