It took a couple years for rising redshirt junior Tyree Jackson to take over the starting quarterback role, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
In 2016, Jackson, then a redshirt freshman out of Norton Shores, Michigan, fought with Iowa State transfer Grant Rohach for precious playing time in rotation after the departure of Buffalo legend Joe Licata to graduation in 2015.
Recently-hired head coach Lance Leipold was still installing his new offense and knew eventually Jackson was going to be the center point of it. After an injury to Rohach, who largely proved to be ineffective in three starts, Leipold pulled the trigger and decided to give Jackson the full-time starting role, perhaps a little earlier than planned.