Miami's Freshman Quarterback Luke Nickel Making Strides To Lock Up Quarterback Two

CORAL GABLES — Miami's spring period has wrapped up, and this freshman class has a chance to be remarkable — starting with quarterback Luke Nickel.

Coming out of the Hurricanes game, he and Malachi Toney proved to be great recruiting finds for coach Mario Cristobal and his staff. Toney stole the show, but if there was a clear No. 2, it was Nickel.

"He's very natural," Crisotbal said about Nickel after the spring game. "I don't think he's phased in any way, shape, or form. He understands protections really well. Therefore, he can slide in and out of stuff, he feels it well, and he's not afraid to let it go. He understands what's being played behind that front. He understands where the holes are, he understands where he can go with the ball. He made some really big plays today. He has about two he'd like to have back and held on one a little bit longer that you wanted, but really good football player.

"You can push him hard, you can coach him hard. He was raised really well. He's a tough son of a gun. Really happy for him with the spring he had."

Nickel looked like the best quarterback out of the three that played on Saturday. Carson Beck is gearing up to start throwing, so he did not participate. It was down to Judd Anderson, Emory Willams, and the budding star freshman.

Anderson was fine with his snaps breaking off for a huge run down the middle, but he lacked a few things with throwing the ball. Some praised Williams, but he had some really bad throws that brought back the Pop-Tart bowl disaster at the end of the game. Nickel had a few bad throws as well, but what he showed was more promising than not. He looked like a great quarterback and even argued for being the backup quarterback for Beck.

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