He's a 'great runner,' but can new QB John Rhys Plumlee be a winner for UCF? 5 things to know

ORLANDO — John Rhys Plumlee has experienced the full gamut of emotions when it comes to quarterback competitions.

There was jubilation when the Hattiesburg native got his chance to lead Ole Miss in 2019, when he topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark and earned Freshman All-American honors from several major outlets.

Disappointment quickly followed when Ole Miss overhauled its coaching staff, and Lane Kiffin chose Matt Corral as the starter in 2020. Plumlee switched positions and became a wide receiver for the next two seasons.

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Entering the transfer portal on Jan. 3, the day after his 21st birthday, Plumlee's hope was restored when Gus Malzahn wanted to bring him down to UCF. The second-year coach remembered when the 6-foot, 200-pounder gashed his Auburn defense for 92 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Finally, when Malzahn declared him the Knights' QB1 for Thursday's home opener against South Carolina State, Plumlee best described his feelings as "blessed."

"I'm obviously really, really happy," Plumlee told a group of reporters last week during a press conference. "To have the opportunity to compete and, ultimately, to have the opportunity to be the starter is really cool."

Plumlee supplants Mikey Keene as the Knights' QB. Keene, a sophomore recruited by Josh Heupel to suit his Air Raid scheme, threw for 1,730 yards with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. He started the final 10 games for UCF in 2021 after Dillon Gabriel suffered a season-ending broken collarbone at Louisville.

"I've been there. I've lived it," Plumlee said when asked what message he conveyed to Keene after learning of Malzahn's decision. "He's an amazing competitor. When you watch the film, he made some amazing plays last year. He got thrown into the fire.

"To see the way he responded last year is really, really cool. I think it says a lot about Mikey. Going through this competition, you can see why everybody thinks so highly about Mikey — not just the athletic ability, but all the intangibles, the staying late, getting up early. I can't say enough good things about Mikey."

As Plumlee is set to lead the Knights from underneath the Bounce House student section for the first time Thursday, here are five things to know about the team's new star under center.

1. Plumlee was once a safety

Plumlee graduated Hattiesburg (Miss.) Oak Grove as one of the school's most decorated and coveted quarterback prospects ever but he made his varsity breakthrough on defense, head coach Drew Causey said.

"For him, he started at safety as a ninth-grader," Causey said in a phone interview. "He was kind of always around the ball, hustled everywhere he went and tried to do everything the right way."

Causey kept Plumlee at safety early in his sophomore year, but planned to ease him into the QB spot due to missing workouts in the summer. That all changed on a two-point conversion attempt in Oak Grove's second game of the season against Wayne County.

"We called a play we wanted to run — motion shift, roll right, run-pass option. He threw it back across the field to the running back for the score," Causey said. "We let him learn on the fly from there."

Plumlee accounted for 6,636 yards of total offense and 74 touchdowns in his last two years with the Warriors. As a senior, he topped the 100-yard rushing mark in nine of Oak Grove's 15 games en route to the Class 6A championship game.

2. Ole Miss was not John Rhys Plumlee's first choice

Malzahn and his staff recruited Plumlee in 2018 during his tenure at Auburn. He and Nick Saban roamed the halls and Oak Grove during the same day, Causey said.

However, Plumlee had eyes on another SEC school that summer — and it was not Ole Miss, either. He instead committed to Georgia that June, but Rebels wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler refused to give up, maintaining weekly communication.

And Ole Miss was given a boost when Georgia's coaches, according to an ESPN article in February 2019, asked Plumlee in December to accept a blueshirt offer — designated for an unrecruited player who has not taken an official visit to that particular school, has not signed financial aid paperwork and is not awarded a scholarship right away.

Rated the No. 13 dual-threat QB prospect in the nation by 247Sports, Plumlee reopened his recruitment and took four official visits ahead of National Signing Day — Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss and Florida State. The late December hire of Rich Rodriguez as offensive coordinator pushed Ole Miss over the top, Plumlee's father told the Clarion Ledger.

"When coach Rodriguez came and saw his tape, he came up here and the whole coaching staff was up here,” Denton Plumlee said. “Rich Rod said it. He said, ‘You’re the guy I’m recruiting. I haven’t recruited anybody else. Everybody that’s there is someone else’s recruit. You fit my system.’ ”

He committed to the Rebels on Feb. 4, 2019, and signed two days later.

3. UCF's new quarterback a 'good leader' and a 'great runner'

Snoop Conner, quarterbacking rival Hattiesburg High in 2017 and '18, went head-to-head with Plumlee twice — and then became his teammate for three seasons at Ole Miss.

Asked what stuck out about Plumlee, Conner — a rookie running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars — praised his leadership and elusiveness. Both were on display in a signature performance against eventual national champion LSU.

"They were the No. 1 team in the country, and he ran all over them," Conner said. "He was fired up. He always had a motivational speech before the game, and he'd get you pumped up."

Plumlee set a single-game rushing record for an Ole Miss quarterback with 212 yards and four total touchdowns, adding 123 yards on 9-of-16 passing. It mattered little when it pertained to the outcome as Joe Burrow, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Justin Jefferson and JaMarr Chase lit up the Rebels' defense for 716 yards of total offense and 58 points.

Conner said that Plumlee handled the transition to wide receiver well, and remained an upbeat presence in the locker room.

"He's a great teammate who always picks you up when you're down," Conner said. "I was happy to see he was the starter at UCF. I knew when he left Ole Miss he was going to be a starter somewhere else."

4. Malzahn wasn't alone in recruiting Plumlee to UCF

Malzahn was not the only UCF coach hoping to lure Plumlee to Orlando from the portal. Greg Lovelady wanted him immediately to play baseball, too.

In addition to his prowess on the football field, Plumlee was one of Mississippi's most sought-after baseball recruits, too. He earned All-State honors from the Clarion-Ledger as a senior after hitting .411 with two home runs, five triples, seven doubles, 45 runs scored, 24 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

Plumlee appeared in 60 games for Ole Miss — 13 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He made 18 starts as a sophomore, hitting .267 and scoring 21 runs.

Committing to UCF on Jan. 9, Plumlee sought to suit up for the Knights on the diamond this past spring. However, on Feb. 23, he said he was denied a waiver for immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

Under current rules, he would have needed to complete his one-time transfer before July 1, 2021, in order to have played baseball in the 2022 season.

Instead, Plumlee practiced with the football team and shined in his first exhibition in front of Knights fans. He completed 11 of 15 attempts for 189 yards and four touchdowns in the team's spring game.

5. Plumlee can run, adds a new, desired dimension

Dating back to his days as offensive coordinator during Auburn's national championship journey in 2010, Malzahn has built his offense around a powerful running game. And the quarterback often plays a significant role picking up tough yards on the ground.

Cam Newton famously won the Heisman Trophy in his lone year under the controls of Malzahn's scheme after throwing for 2,854 yards, rushing for 1,473 yards and totaling 51 touchdowns.

When Malzahn returned to Auburn as head coach in 2013, the speedier Nick Marshall blossomed into one of the SEC's most lethal dual-threats. He ran for 1,866 yards and 23 scores in two seasons as the starting QB.

Keene offered little as a runner last season. Factoring in sacks, he had minus-36 yards on 35 carries.

"I think the big thing is, when things break down, John Rhys can keep things alive and create," Malzahn said. "On the field, we've seen him get better every single practice. The scrimmages, he's got good command of what's going on, and he's made all the throws. And I think everyone knows he can run the ball extremely well."

Plumlee's accuracy and proficiency as a college-level passer is the one question that will linger through, at least, the opening weeks of the season. At Ole Miss, he posted a career completion mark of 53.8%, averaging 6.0 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

If he proves the doubters wrong, UCF's offense could once again rank among the best in college football.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: John Rhys Plumlee: 5 things to know about UCF quarterback