UCLA Football: QB Wilton Speight to start in the Bruins’ season opener
It has just been announced that Michigan grad transfer Wilton Speight will get the nod to start at quarterback for the UCLA football over Devon Modster and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
The announcement every UCLA football fan has been waiting for has finally come (despite the fact that it is two days before kickoff)… Wilton Speight has been named the starting quarterback for the Bruins’ game against Cincinnati.
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Since spring we have known that it would be a five-man race for the starting QB spot. Speight, Modster, DTR as well as Austin Burton and Matt Lynch were all in the running at the beginning of fall camp.
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At the end of last week, Kelly announced that the race was down to the first three.
With this information, fans speculated that Kelly could use more than one QB to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats as Speight, Modster and DTR all have unique qualities that can help Kelly’s offense move. The thing is, Kelly needs one of them to start the season and now we know it is the transfer from Michigan.
In the last few seasons, Speight has done a decent job for the Wolverines, throwing for 3,192 yards and 22 touchdowns in three years in Blue and Maize. He also has 16 contests under his belt, that is more game experience than the other four QBs combined.
Though it seems Speight might not fit the system (pocket passer in a run-based spread offense), you can guarantee that Kelly has several packages ready for the graduate athlete.
It can also be assumed that a few packages will be available for either Modster or Thompson-Robinson. With the talent that the Bruins have, it would be a waste not to utilize the skills each of the backup quarterbacks possesses.
Head Coach Chip Kelly has named Wilton Speight the starting QB for the home opener vs. Cincinnati!#GoBruins | #BeatCincy pic.twitter.com/7UTocUHVl2
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) August 30, 2018
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Still, it will be a quite the adventure to see what Kelly collectively puts on the field Saturday at the Rose Bowl against the Bearcats. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. PT.