Two weeks after the Fresno State football team gave the public their first glimpse of the 2019 quarterback battle, it looks as though head coach Jeff Tedford has found his man, announcing to the team that senior Jorge Reyna will be the starting quarterback, according to a Fresno State news release.
“It’s important going into the summer to have leadership at that position,” Tedford told Fresno State Athletics. “He [Jorge] has command of the offense — he has been here going into his third season. He has played his role well in the past and has earned the right to be the starting quarterback.”
Reyna emerged as the leader following his battle with redshirt freshmen Ben Wooldrige and Steven Comstock, after working primarily with the No.1 offense for all 15 spring practices. Now he will have to follow up the moment his predecessor, Marcus McMaryion, help build following the highly successful 2018 season.
McMaryion had high praise for his successor and believes that Reyna can successfully take the reigns in 2019, due to his competitive nature.
“He’s super competitive,” McMaryion told Fresno State Athletics. “He’s going to leave it all on the field no matter what. I think you’ll see the fire in him when he gets on the field and really gets a chance to show what he can do.”
Reyna was one of the first five Bulldog recruits to sign a letter of intent under Tedford’s watch on Dec. 14, 2016, coming into Fresno State as a mid-year transfer. And after redshirting in 2017, Reyna appeared in 11 games for the Bulldogs in 2018, serving as the backup quarterback and primary holder as a redshirt junior.
There wasn’t much of a sample size for Reyna in 2018, although he did have 12 attempts under center and completed eight passes for 111 yards and tossed one touchdown. On his first career attempt in the 2018 season opener against Idaho, he completed a 33-yard TD pass to Derrion Grim.
For Reyna and Fresno State, opening will have a tough road ahead of them to start off the season. The Bulldogs will open up the season on the road at USC on Aug. 31 and follow that up a week later for the home opener against Minnesota on Sept. 7.
