Quarterback Competitions: Latest intel from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Colorado & more

With Week 0 nearly a week away and almost two weeks until the rest of college football begins, quarterback competitions are coming down to the wire. Alabama was the first domino to fall, naming Ty Simpson its starter earlier this week.

With all eyes on Ohio State and Notre Dame, here is the latest intel On3 is hearing. We also have the latest on competitions at Colorado and North Carolina.

Notre Dame
+ The Fighting Irish’s quarterback battle continues to carry on. Sources have told On3 that CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey have been splitting first-team reps, swapping between first-team and second-team daily.
+ Notre Dame is scheduled for at least one more scrimmage. Sunday and Monday have been circled as possible days when Marcus Freeman could name a starting quarterback.
+ To this point, there has not been much separation between Carr and Minchey. Sources have given Minchey the slight edge entering the final two scrimmages. His mobility could prove to be an advantage when Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock make a final decision.
+ Carr still has time to beat out Minchey for the starting job and earn the nod against Miami.

Ohio State
+ Ryan Day has mentioned this could come down to the wire. The Buckeyes are scheduled to have another scrimmage this weekend, but a source said a formal quarterback announcement could come middle to late next week.
+ Sources have given Julian Sayin the slight edge to this point in fall camp, but the separation between the former five-star recruit and Lincoln Kienholz is not wide enough to this point for Day to name a starting quarterback.

Tennessee
+ The Volunteers have given Joey Aguilar and Jake Merklinger reps with first-team for most of fall camp. But it was George MacIntyre who impressed at last weekend’s scrimmage. The odds of the true freshman earning the starting nod are low, though.
+ At this point, it is Aguilar who is trending to earn the starting nod for Tennessee in Week 1 against Syracuse.

Colorado
+ Deion Sanders and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur have been mum to this point on the ongoing quarterback battle between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and true freshman Julian Lewis.
+ Salter is the more experienced of the two quarterbacks, playing in 30 career games. One source told On3 that they give the Liberty transfer the edge at this point to win the competition.
+ But that does not mean Lewis is out of the picture. One source told On3 that it would not be surprised if Colorado employs some type of platoon situation with Lewis getting a few drives per game.

North Carolina
+ All the intel points to South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez earning the starting job, but Bill Belichick is not going to show his cards anytime soon. A source said Lopez and Max Johnson have been getting the majority of the snaps, but that Lopez has the slight advantage to this point.
+ The Tar Heels have yet to have a formal scrimmage and that could come this weekend, per a source.
+ There is no timetable for when Belichick could make a decision, and the source said it would not be a surprise for the Tar Heels to just roll out a quarterback Week 1 against TCU.

Purdue
+ Barry Odom’s starting quarterback competition has come down to North Carolina transfer Ryan Browne and Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton. Browne played at Purdue last season before transferring to North Carolina and re-joining the Boilermakers this spring.
+ Sources give Browne the slight advantage to this point in fall camp.

Syracuse
+ Exiting spring practice, Fran Brown declared Rickie Collins the starting quarterback for the Orange. But then Syracuse turned around and added Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli.
+ Syracuse still has scrimmages left on the schedule, but the slight edge in the competition to this point goes to Angeli, sources have said.