FSU quarterback Alex Hornibrook came in for an injured James Blackman during the Louisville game and contributed to a much needed victory for the Seminoles. He then started and exceeded expectations in a victory against North Carolina State. During those two games he completed over 70% of his passes and threw for 5 touchdowns without a single interception.
As a recent graduate student transfer, just who is Alex Hornibrook?
Alex Hornibrook, a 6’4” pro-style quarterback from West Chester, Pennsylvania, attended high school at Malvern Prep, where he earned a 3-star composite rating along with the attention of several NCAA football programs, including Wisconsin, Pitt, and Rutgers. Despite an early commitment to the University of Pittsburgh, the left-handed quarterback would go on to join a crowded quarterback room at the University of Wisconsin.
After redshirting his freshman year in 2015, Hornibrook climbed his way to the number 2 spot on the depth chart, before eventually earning the starting job during week 3 against the Michigan State Spartans. He would go on to start for the Badgers for the next two years.
In 2017, Hornibrook had his most successful season throwing for 2,644 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions, culminating in an impressive 258 yard performance against Miami in the Orange Bowl.
Despite his team’s success in 2017, several issues plagued Hornibrook throughout the year, most notably his passing accuracy and turnovers. He went eight straight games with at least one interception per game. He also struggled a bit with his accuracy against tougher opponents, completing less than half of his attempted passes against both Michigan and Ohio State. The excellent Wisconsin defense kept the Badgers in both games, with Ohio State being his only loss of the year. His 2018 campaign was hampered by injury, where he only played in nine games.
Hornibrook’s inconsistency, combined with his injury history, led to some uncertainty about his status as the starting quarterback. Hornibrook would enter the transfer portal in 2019, before committing to the Florida State Seminoles as a graduate transfer this past March.
To date, Hornibrook is playing his best ball, appearing much calmer and more decisive in the pocket than he did for much of his time in Wisconsin, though he may hold on to the ball a bit too long at times. FSU’s Gulf Coast Offense is a quarterback friendly system that requires an accurate passer with a strong arm to push the ball down the field, and so far, Hornibrook seems to be benefiting from it.
FSU fans were looking for a spark, and Hornibrook delivered. However, Hornibrook and FSU are facing theirs biggest challenge yet against Clemson next week. It is also important to note that Coach Taggart has yet to announce his starting quarterback for that game.
The Skinny on Alex Hornibrook added by Samuele Adamita on
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Hornibrook was great in the last game, high completion average even under pressure. If the offensive line had held better on some plays he would have done better (true for both QBs, to be fair). He’s a senior and has more experience than Blackman, he reads defenses quickly and just generally seems to hold his poise in the QB position. Blackman also has a great passing arm and does well for the most part, but Hornibrook no doubt brought a real punch to the offense. If Blackman can recover well enough to play soon, it would be interesting to see if Taggart and Briles switch them off to charge up the offense in different ways. However, with the Noles shaky season start, going with the QB who can perform the best consistently is probably foremost in the coaches’ minds.
The currently injured ‘starting’ quarterback is being upstaged and doubtless is feeling a bit insecure over the electric and very successful replacement. If that knee is fully healed, I’d start James, but be extremely pragmatic on whom to send into the game on a play-by-play basis against Clemson.
Since the Noles have Saturday off, there is a cool Car Show at the Antique Car Museum on Mahan by I-10. If you have nothing going on, come check it out. A lot of Car Clubs will be represented in case you are looking to join one. It will be from 9:00am to 2:00pm. I will be there hanging out with Friends as well.