Florida State got a huge boost to its quarterback room on Sunday with a commitment from former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton.
Milton announced his intentions to transfer earlier this month, citing his belief that during his two seasons of continued rehabilitation from a gruesome leg injury at the end of the 2018 the "torch has been passed" to current UCF starter Dillon Gabriel. With one year of eligibility remaining, Milton wanted to find a new home to complete his college career and compete for starter's snaps. On Sunday, he announced that would be Florida State.
Milton made the announcement via Twitter with a picture of him in a Seminoles uniform.
Just minutes after Milton's tweet, FSU coach Mike Norvell tweeted that it was a "Great day to be a Florida State Seminole" and referred to a "big time addition from the #808to850." 808 is the area code for Hawaii, where Milton is from and 850 is the area code for Tallahassee, Florida.
"You see Florida State, the garnet and gold, it speaks for itself," Milton told ESPN's Andrea Adelson. "The notoriety the people that have come through there, Deion Sanders, Charlie Ward, Jameis Winston, it speaks for itself. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity. It's something I don't take for granted, especially what I've been through the past two years. It's a very special opportunity, and I feel like we can get that thing turned around in the near future."
Milton was one of college football's biggest stars leading UCF's high-powered offense as the Knights went 13-0 in 2017 and 11-0 in 2018 before the injury against USF in the regular season finale. He was the two-time American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and leaves UCF ranking fourth in career passing yards (8,683), fourth in career passing touchdowns (72) and second all-time in career pass efficiency (152.3). Though he has yet to play since his injury, the brilliance shown during his time with UCF under both Scott Frost and Josh Huepel suggests he's far from a system quarterback.
The commitment of Milton is fantastic news for Norvell as he looks to establish some better depth at a position that was thin for much of the 2020 season. After moving on from James Blackman the team mostly relied on Jordan Travis at the quarterback position especially with true freshman quarterback Chubba Purdy suffering a season ending injury in November after just three games of action.