Former Cincinnati quarterback Ben Bryant is headed to the Big Ten.
Bryant, who began for the Bearcats final yr after a number of seasons backing up Desmond Ridder, introduced Wednesday that he’ll play his closing season of faculty soccer at Northwestern. The transfer to Evanston is a return near dwelling for Bryant, who’s from La Grange, Illinois.
Northwestern is coming off a depressing 1-11 season that featured three completely different quarterbacks getting vital snaps. Ryan Hilinski began for a lot of the yr, however Brendan Sullivan and Cole Freeman additionally noticed motion. The outcomes weren’t fairly. Those three mixed to throw for two,411 yards and 10 touchdowns with 15 interceptions whereas finishing 59% of their makes an attempt.
Bryant, who has one yr remaining, might characterize an improve for the Wildcats. Bryant signed with Cincinnati again in 2018 and spent three seasons as Ridder’s backup. Looking for a possibility to start out, Bryant transferred to Eastern Michigan in 2021 and threw for 3,121 yards, 14 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for the Eagles.
Following that yr within the MAC, Bryant transferred again to Cincinnati. With Ridder within the NFL, Bryant was in a position to beat out Evan Prater for the beginning job. In 11 begins, Bryant threw for two,732 yards, 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions whereas finishing 61.2% of his makes an attempt. Bryant suffered a foot damage and missed UC’s closing three video games, together with the American Athletic Conference title sport.
Cincinnati quarterback Ben Bryant (6) performs throughout an NCAA faculty soccer sport in opposition to Navy, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
After the 2022 season, Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell left UC to take the Wisconsin job. New head coach Scott Satterfield added Emory Jones (previously of Florida and Arizona State) by way of the switch portal. Bryant and Jones have been competing for first-team reps throughout spring observe with Bryant even beginning the Bearcats’ spring sport.
However, Bryant ended up placing his identify into the switch portal on April 20 and selected Northwestern a number of weeks later. With Bryant shifting on, Jones turns into the favourite to start out for Cincinnati in this system’s first season within the Big 12.
Bryant was one of many higher quarterbacks accessible on the switch market. Other quarterbacks with beginning expertise nonetheless accessible embody Casey Thompson (Nebraska), Payton Thorne (Michigan State) and T.J. Finley (Auburn).
