A Look Around the SoCon as Football Opening Weekend Arrives

The college football season is finally here, and after long offseason battles, starting quarterbacks have been decided across the SoCon. Here’s a look at some of the starting quarterbacks to watch across the conference in season-opening games.

Thursday August 27

Chattanooga at West Georgia — Quarterback Battle Alberson

Battle Alberson beat out fellow quarterbacks Matthew Clemmer and New Mexico State transfer Parker Awad forChattanooga’s Week Zero starting nod against West Georgia. Alberson started three games last season, playing in six.

He completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 630 yards and five touchdowns to just three interceptions. Alberson earned SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in a win against Furman last year, his lone win as a starter. It was a late-season bright spot for a Mocs team that went a disappointing 5-7 last year.

With Alberson starting in the season opener against West Georgia, Chattanooga hopes to put last season behind it and start the season on top.

“We’re trying to let the past be the past and focus on what’s ahead of us,” offensive lineman Devin Lively said. “The mindset is in a good place right now. Execution and physicality are the fundamentals of our team.”

Anderson at Furman — Quarterback Jake Garcia

The fifth time is the charm for Furman’s newest starting quarterback Jake Garcia. Garcia started his collegiate career back in 2021 at Miami (FL) before stints at Missouri, East Carolina and Michigan.

Garcia found the most success at East Carolina, where he threw for 1,426 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. Garcia also ran for two touchdowns on the ground while with the Pirates, calling back to a 45-yard run from his freshman days at Miami. Garcia’s ability to make plays with his legs made him an attractive transfer portal target for Furman.

“We had to find some mobility at the position,” head coach Clay Hendrix said. “We were a throw-the-football-first team, which I don’t really want to be. But when you don’t have the mobility at the position, it really affects you in lots of ways... I think the skillset is more what we’re looking to get out of that room.”

Garcia has found a home at Furman after multiple stops and will open with DII program Anderson in Week Zero. The Trojans are coached by former Paladins’ quarterback and head coach Bobby Lamb, who was both a high school and college teammate of Hendrix at Commerce (GA) High and Furman.

The game should prove to be a good opportunity for Garcia to get things rolling with the Paladins.

Saturday August 29

Monmouth at Tennessee Tech — Quarterback Jax Leatherwood

Jax Leatherwood drew attention at SoCon Football Media Day after being named preseason second-team all-conference before being named the starter. Leatherwood backed up that selection during the offseason by beating out quarterbacks Richie Munoz and Zolten Osborne for the job. Leatherwood transferred in from Southeast Missouri State this offseason. He threw for almost 2,000 yards in just eight games, making him an attractive portal target.

“It’s like going to the grocery store. You can go buy what you want at the grocery store,” head coach Bobby Wilder said. “Well, you can go into the portal and find a quarterback who has good numbers. All three of them have good numbers from their previous school where they started.”

Leatherwood hopes to build on last season’s numbers after winning the starting job as Tennessee Tech aims higher than last season, when the Golden Eagles made the FCS playoffs. 2026 will be a new frontier for Leatherwood on his new team, and for TTU in a new conference as it plays its inaugural year of SoCon football.

It’ll start with a ranked FCS opener against Monmouth. However, Leatherwood proved last year that he can perform well in big games. He threw for 422 yards with a 70 percent completion percentage last season against Southern Illinois and again completed more than 70 percent of his passes against his now-current team, Tennessee Tech.

Campbell at ETSU — Quarterback Mason Mims

Mims is a transfer from Louisville, where he redshirted last year after entering college as a three-star recruit. In high school, he completed 71 percent of his passes while throwing for over 8,400 yards and 89 touchdowns.

Mims won the job during fall camp after transferring in, beating out Jadyn Davis, Jake McNamara and Jackson Byrd. Ahead of camp, All-SoCon tight end Charlie Browder described the quarterback competition as a battle of improvement and consistency.

“The big thing for them is how can they stack days,” Browder said. “Can they make sure that their Tuesday is better than their Monday, that their Wednesday is better than their Tuesday and just continue to get better?”

Mims was the best at “stacking days” during the summer to win the job. Now, he’ll try to stack wins for an ETSU team that closed last season on a four-game win streak. The first test will be a Campbell squad from the CAA that was the worst pass defense in their conference a year ago. Mims could be in line for a big-time debut.

“The key to our success will hang a lot on — as it does for most football teams — how well do you play at the quarterback position,” head coach Will Healy said.

Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina — Quarterback Lex Thomas

Lex Thomas won the starting quarterback job at Western Carolina, following in the footsteps of Walter Payton Award runner-up Taron Dickens. Thomas has big shoes to fill, but the 5-foot-11 signal-caller was once the 29th-best player in North Carolina in the class of 2023.

Thomas threw just one touchdown in four games at NC State, but he’ll join an offense that has consistently ranked as one of the most explosive in the FCS. The Catamounts averaged 38 points per game last year.

“Whoever wins the starting quarterback job will be up for all-conference because in our system they do the things that are going to make you successful,” head coach Kerwin Bell said.

Not only does Thomas have the belief of the coaching staff, but the players also are high on his potential running the show.

“I think no matter who it is, they have that edge, they have that dog. In this offense, no matter what, you’re going to put up big numbers and I’m excited to see what we do,” wide receiver AJ Colombo said.

We’ll get the first look at Thomas against a tough Eastern Kentucky pass defense that allowed less than 200 air yards per game a season ago. However, the Colonels only went 5-7, so Thomas could have an opportunity for a breakout day.

The Citadel at Wofford — Quarterback Quentin Hayes

Quentin Hayes is one of the few returning signal-callers in the SoCon this fall. He was named Preseason First-Team All-SoCon after his 63 percent completion percentage ranked third in program history for The Citadel. He’s a true dual-threat option with seven rushing touchdowns and eight passing touchdowns last year.

Hayes’ 682 rushing yards ranked sixth among FCS quarterbacks last year and were a big part of why The Citadel led the SoCon in rushing a season ago.

“It’s no surprise we wanna run the ball, and we have our identity in running the football. We take pride in what we do,” running back Rhyder Poppell said. “Don’t be fooled, we led the conference in rushing, but we want to score any way we can.”

The Citadel and Hayes will try to score any way they can in a conference game as a season opener, facing Wofford. Hayes threw for 153 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown against Wofford last season — a game that resulted in a two-point loss.

If Hayes takes the next step in his development to open the season, The Citadel could reverse last year’s result.

The Citadel at Wofford — Quarterback J.T. Fayard

Quarterback J.T. Fayard won an offseason competition at Wofford after stepping in midway through the 2025season. Fayard replaced quarterback Ethan Drumm and beat him out this offseason after Drumm suffered an injury.

“J.T.’s going to have the first shot at it,” head coach Shawn Watson said. “In all fairness to Ethan, he got hurt. Hedidn’t lose the job because of performance; he lost the job because of injury. We want to see where he’s at in his development.”

Fayard got his shot this offseason and proved he deserved to be the starter in the season opener. He’ll carry momentum into that game after throwing nine touchdowns in his last three games as Wofford went on a four-game win streak and 6-1 run to close the season.

Fayard’s success has things trending upward at Wofford after the Terriers received five votes in the preseason AFCA poll. The team has confidence in him too as they enter Week Zero.

“He’s a great guy. Great quarterback. Great patience in the pocket,” offensive lineman Dillon Porter said. “When J.T.’s behind us, we’re rolling at all times.”

Teams With Unannounced Starters at Quarterback

Samford

● Opponent: North Alabama (home)

● Top quarterback options:

○ Freshman Will Shields

○ Returnee Charlie Gilliam

○ Davidson transfer Coulter Cleland

○ Oregon State transfer Gabarri Johnson

● Quotables

○ “I think quarterback... you gotta have one,” head coach John Grass said. “We’ve got three guys that I think can win games for us. It’s good. A lot of people don’t have three guys.”

VMI

● Opponent: Idaho State (road)

● Top quarterback options:

○ Junior JoJo Crump

○ Redshirt Junior Chandler Wilson

○ Sophomore Nana Utsey

● Quotables

○ “Offensively we’re going to try to be tough. We’re going to try to be physical. We’re going to run option,” head coach Ashley Ingram said.

Mercer

● Opponent: East Texas A&M (home)

● Top quarterback options:

○ Florida State transfer Jaylen King

○ Franklin Pierce transfer Adrian Parker

○ Sophomore JP Pickles

○ Redshirt Junior Jake Wilson

○ Redshirt sophomore Jake Maxwell

○ Returnee Jake Wilson

○ Freshman Cam Hill

● Quotables

○ “I think Mercer is a place of growth,” head coach Joel Taylor said. “I think we can build something that can be really special.”