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So, if the Hoos are going to achieve their first winning campaign since 2019, they鈥檒l likely need former North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris 鈥� assuming Morris earns the spot atop the depth chart 鈥� to outperform past Group of Five transfer QBs who previously made the jump to the ACC.

Over the last three seasons during the height of the transfer portal era, five former Group of Five starting signal-callers have transferred to ACC schools.

That list includes Morris鈥� predecessor at North Texas, too.

Chandler Rogers departed the Mean Green for Cal ahead of last season, but he never started for the Golden Bears after throwing for 3,382 yards and 29 touchdowns with five interceptions while completing 62.1% of his passes at North Texas in 2023. He got beat out by Fernando Mendoza for the gig.

Rogers鈥� stats at North Texas weren鈥檛 too different than Morris鈥� there either. Last season, Morris had a 62.9% completion rate, racked up 3,774 passing yards and 31 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

UVa is asking Morris to operate differently than he did at North Texas, too. At UNT, Morris played in an air raid offense. He spent this past spring adjusting to the Cavaliers鈥� balanced attack under fourth-year coach Tony Elliott.

鈥淚 think I鈥檝e picked up on it very well and that I haven鈥檛 skipped a beat on it,鈥� Morris said at the conclusion of the spring about how he鈥檚 adapted to the pro-style principles in the Hoos鈥� system.

Said Cavaliers quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb: 鈥淭he ball comes out of his hands extremely fast, and you can tell that on his tape the past several years. He鈥檚 going to get the ball out of his hands quick and he can really run. There are clips from North Texas where he really gets out of the gate. But he can get out of the pocket, move and extend plays, and that fits us and fits any offense.鈥�

Three other former G5 quarterbacks were new to the ACC a year ago 鈥� Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina to N.C. State), Hank Bachmeier (Louisiana Tech to Wake Forest) and Grayson James (Florida International to Boston College).

McCall, a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year with the Chanticleers, was the most noteworthy of that bunch upon entrance into the ACC. But he decided to retire for medical reasons a month into his stint with the Wolfpack, so it鈥檚 probably not fair to judge the small sample size of McCall's time spent in Raleigh.

Bachmeier started in 11 of Wake Forest's 12 games. He had a 16-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio and recorded multiple-touchdown performances against North Carolina A&T, N.C. State, Clemson, Stanford and Cal.

The Demon Deacons finished 4-8, though.

James began last fall behind another G5 transfer in Thomas Castellanos (from Central Florida to Boston College before the 2023 season) on the Eagles鈥� depth chart. Castellanos had exciting playmaking ability but turned the ball over too much for BC coach Bill O鈥橞rien鈥檚 liking, so O鈥橞rien turned to James. James led Boston College to a come-from-behind win over Syracuse, and he helped the Eagles reach bowl eligibility with strong performances in victories against Pitt and North Carolina.

Prior to those quarterbacks transitioning to the ACC last season, the most prominent to previously do it was former Marshall quarterback Grant Wells when he went to Virginia Tech in advance of the 2022 season.

Wells had been an All-Conference USA selection in 2020 and a standout for two years with the Thundering Herd. But success was harder to sustain in the ACC, and Wells threw for nine touchdowns with nine interceptions in his first year in Blacksburg before ultimately losing the job to Kyron Drones during the 2023 campaign.

Those five 鈥� Bachmeier, James, McCall, Rogers and Wells 鈥� had very different experiences in their respective forays into power-conference football.

Of course, their results won鈥檛 dictate what Morris can or can鈥檛 do at UVa.

The other variable in his situation is he鈥檚 also played in the upper echelon of the sport previously with stops at Oklahoma and TCU, so Morris should have a great understanding about the competition level he鈥檒l face more so than any of the prior G5-to-ACC quarterback transfers had.

鈥淚 wanted to get back to that Power Four level and I wanted another shot at it,鈥� Morris said about why he left North Texas for UVa.

Undoubtedly, the best mid-major quarterback transfer into the ACC was Ryan Finley, but his move into the league came a decade ago. He did not play much for Boise State in 2014 and 2015 before thriving with N.C. State. Finley logged three straight 3,000-yard-plus passing seasons with the Wolfpack through 2018.

Beyond Morris, here鈥檚 how the quarterback position stacks up for the Cavaliers.

Quarterbacks

Projected starter: Chandler Morris

Projected backup: Daniel Kaelin

Others of note: Grady Brosterhous, Cole Geer, Bjorn Jurgensen

Position coach: Taylor Lamb (fourth season)

Need to know: Morris was the prized target of the offseason. His father, Chad Morris, was the former coach at SMU and Arkansas and the ex-offensive coordinator at Clemson. Elliott worked with him at Clemson. 鈥� Kaelin, a transfer from Nebraska, could be the quarterback of the future for the Cavaliers and is expected to at least push Chandler Morris during training camp. Kaelin was in the same recruiting class as five-star recruit Dylan Raiola and stuck behind Raiola at Nebraska. Kaelin, a 6-foot-3, 218-pounder, has four years of eligibility left and he鈥檚 made strides since getting to Charlottesville. 鈥� Short-yardage QB Grady Brosterhous is still around if UVa wants to deploy its tush-push package. 鈥� Freshmen newcomer Bjorn Jurgensen has immense upside, multiple sources have said. At Bishop Moore Catholic in Orlando, he set 15 school records including most passing yards in a season, passing touchdowns in a season, career passing touchdowns and total yards. He threw for 5,443 yards and 58 touchdowns as a three-year starter there. ... Geer was the top-ranked QB prospect in Massachusetts.