Former Miami QB Jake Garcia, ‘excited for fresh start,’ begins classes Monday at Missouri
Two-year University of Miami quarterback Jake Garcia will be in class Monday at the University of Missouri and ready to compete for the Tigers in spring football, his father Randy told the Miami Herald on Friday.
“He’s excited for a fresh start and to compete at a high level,’’ Randy Garcia said.
The news of Garcia’s destination was first reported by ESPN, which cited undisclosed sources.
Garcia, who will be a redshirt sophomore, appeared in eight games this past season with one start. He passed for 803 yards (59.1 percent), with five touchdowns and four interceptions. His two-point conversion run in quadruple-overtime at Virginia proved the game winner.
In 2021, Garcia played in one game, completing 11 of 14 passes (78.6 percent) for two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He injured his ankle in the game, and sat out the rest of the season.
His departure from UM leaves the Hurricanes with three scholarship quarterbacks: starter Tyler Van Dyke, Jacurri Brown and recent early enrollee Emory Williams.
Missouri’s starting quarterback, Brady Cook, underwent surgery for a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder last month and is expected to miss spring practice. For now, Garcia will compete against Sam Horn, who also will play baseball for Mizzou.
Horn played against Garcia in the 2020 Georgia state championship game when Horn was a quarterback at Suwanee Collins Hill High and Garcia was a senior at Grayson High in Loganville, Georgia. Garcia’s Grayson won for the Georgia Class 7A title.
Garcia came to UM rated the nation’s No. 2 pocket passer by ESPN and No. 5 pro-style quarterback prospect in the 2021 signing class by 247Sports and Rivals, and is from Whittier, California. But he temporarily moved from California to Georgia in August 2020 because the California Interscholastic Federation canceled football in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Garcia thus never got to play at La Habra High, near his home. He played in one game in 2020 at Valdosta High in Georgia, going 21-of-34 for 332 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. When he was ruled ineligible because of transfer rules, he left for Grayson High, where he graduated. He played for long Beach Poly as a freshman, then transferred to LA’s Narbonne High when his coach left.
In Garcia’s junior season, Narbonne was prohibited from the playoffs for rules violations that involved another player’s residency, and that’s when Garcia transferred to La Habra.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 12:34 PM.
