East Carolina Names Missouri Transfer Jake Garcia as Starting QB For 2024

Joe Londergan | Aug 17, 2024

Sep 9, 2023; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Jake Garcia (6) warms up against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders prior to a game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

East Carolina open the 2024 season on August 31, hosting Norfolk State. Starting under center for the Pirates will be former Missouri and Miami quarterback Jake Garcia, a redshirt junior. ECU head coach Mike Houston made the announcement to local media Saturday afternoon.

Houston had been deciding between Garcia and sophomore Katin Houser during spring and fall camp.

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"They both have had great preseasons, and they both are capable of going out and playing at a very high level," Houston said of his QB1 candidates. "We're very very fortunate to have both of them. We're going to need both of them....That competition between the two is going to continue to push each other. But we're pleased with the way that room has played.

Based on Houston's assessment, it seems that while Garcia will begin the season with the starting job, it may not be set in stone for the entire year.

Garcia is a junior originally from Whittier, California. He was a highly-touted high school recruit in the class of 2021, receiving a consensus four-star rating and the status of the #18 overall player in the nation, per ESPN.

Garcia did not appear in a game for Missouri in 2023. He completed 79 of 129 passes for 950 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions over nine appearances for Miami over the the 2021 and 2022 seasons.