A former Big Ten and SEC quarterback is on a Big 12 campus this weekend, as the UCF Knights play host to Tayven Jackson, a transfer quarterback from Indiana.
The Hoosiers backup spent 2023-24 in Bloomington and started five games for IU last year before Kurtis Rourke came in and took over as the starter this past season.
Rourke, who apparently led Indiana to the College Football Playoff on a torn ACL, was the only quarterback ahead of Jackson on the depth chart this season. In fact, Jackson had to start in Rourke’s stead against Washington, leading the Hoosiers to a 31-17 win in that game with 141 total yards and two touchdowns.
Jackson is currently in Orlando, and according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, there’s “strong mutual interest between the sides,” meaning that the two could come to terms in the near future.
A four-star prospect out of Greenwood, Indiana, Jackson originally signed with Tennessee as a member of the 2022 class. He was listed as the No. 12 overall quarterback in the class and even drew comparisons to Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love.
Standing at 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, Jackson has high upside as a quarterback prospect, and if he and Scott Frost end up being the right pairing, it could help bring UCF’s passing offense back to prominence.
Over his limited action in three seasons, Jackson has completed 61.5% of his attempts for 1,300 yards and six touchdowns and six interceptions, adding five rushing touchdowns in that time. In 2024, Jackson completed 62.2% of his attempts for 349 yards and seven total touchdowns with just one interception.
The transfer portal officially opened on Monday, December 9, 2024, and will remain open until Saturday, December 28, with an exception for players on teams who play bowl games after the window closes. According to NCAA data, 2,273 FBS football players entered the transfer portal in 2023-24 school year, with 1,558 (68.5%) undergraduates and 715 (31.5%) graduate transfers. Of the entrants, 57% reported that they enrolled in another school, 8% withdrew their names from the portal, and 35% are still active, transferred to a non-NCAA school, or left their sport.
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