Former Oklahoma QB Wins Starting Job at Connecticut

Nick Evers was Brent Venables' first QB commit but threw just one pass as a Sooner; now he's starting for Jim Mora and the UConn Huskies.

Former Oklahoma quarterback Nick Evers / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-USA TODAY Sports

Another former Oklahoma quarterback has won a starting job at his new school.

Nick Evers, who was Brent Venables’ first quarterback commit in December 2021 and then transferred to Wisconsin after the 2022 season, was finally named on Tuesday the starter at his third school, Connecticut.

Although it did take a while.

“I’ve never been one in my career that's felt it's important to announce to the public who is going to start," Huskies coach Jim Mora Jr. said early in his press conference. "I've never been one that's felt it's important to give them any inkling who's going to run out there for the first snap."

But 12 minutes later, after a handful of additional questions about the QB room, Mora relented and publicly named Evers as the starter.

“Well, they know. They know who the starter is," Mora said. “Yeah. They know. They’ve been talked to.”

Here is how Jim Mora announced UConn’s QB starter, 17 minutes into today’s press conference: pic.twitter.com/lHugxZONar

— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) August 27, 2024

He then literally threw up his hands.

“It’s — listen, you want to know who the starter is? It’s not that — Nick's the starter. OK? There you go. Nick's the starter. You drew it out of me. Alright? It doesn’t matter. Right? Because after one play, everyone’s gonna know anyway.

“I just ruined like, 20 minutes of intrigue. I was thinking about saying it before. Like, why am I playing with you guys? You guys come out here and you want to write a story and, you know? Like, I'm not gonna stand up here and play you for fools. That's stupid of me. That's not my character.

"So Nick's our starter, and we're going to throw all of our support behind him and we're gonna put him in position to win." 

Evers will make his first career for UConn on Saturday at  Maryland.

Evers was verbally committed to Florida as a senior at Flower Mound, TX, but flipped to OU after Venables came on and hired Jeff Lebby as QB coach and offensive coordinator.

He appeared in just one game as a true freshman and threw just one pass in the Sooners’ 49-0 loss to Texas.

He then transferred last year to Wisconsin, where he backed up former Sooner QB Tanner Mordecai.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Evers  has three years eligibility left. He announced his decision to transfer to UConn in May.

He beat out redshirt freshman Tucker McDonald and true freshman Cole Welliver.

"You go get Nick Evers, you're hoping he becomes the guy," Mora said. "You're cheering them all, you're pushing them all, you're coaching the heck out of all of them but you're hoping deep down you made the right decision and he can solidify the room."

"He's a very athletic kid, one of the most athletic on the team," UConn running back Victor Rosa told CT Insider. "He makes smart decisions, plays football, and makes plays. He's elusive. He makes plays on his own and when something isn't there he creates something."

"He's a great competitor and we know what he can do," UConn offensive tackle Valentin Senn said. "It's really great to see him rise to the standard we demand from all of our quarterbacks.”

Evers is just the latest former Sooner QB to make headlines this preseason. Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel has been labeled the current frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. Louisiana-Monroe’s General Booty has won the starting job at ULM. And Davis Beville was awarded a scholarship at South Carolina.