TAMPA, Fla. — USF quarterback Cade Fortin is going back to where it all started. Bulls head coach Jeff Scott named Fortin the starting quarterback for week one at North Carolina St.
That's the same opponent he faced when he made his first collegiate start in 2018. Fortin played at North Carolina before transferring to USF prior to last season.
"It was like, freezing cold rain," Fortin joked when asked about his first memory of that game. "It was 40 degrees and raining. It was all muddy. It was like, everything, the conditions were pretty rough."
Fortin and his USF teammates won't have to worry about freezing rain in Raleigh next week, and Fortin says he's not worried about whether he'll be ready to lead the Bulls.
"I think the preparation is what weeds out the nervousness and the pressure of that," he said. "Just getting in the film room and studying and learning my opponent is going to give me more confidence."
Fortin battled through injuries in 2020, so much so, that he was the number four quarterback for much of the season. But Cade says he relies on his faith when he faces adversity.
"There's a [bible verse], kinda that I leaned on, ever since high school when I got injured and I was kinda out the whole year. Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' For me, I kinda took that to heart. I still think about it all the time."
Coach Scott says he knows Fortin won't play a perfect game next week, but he knows his starter will strive to play a perfect game when he takes the field.
"My message to him, expectation, is to be who he is and continue to prepare the way that he has," Scott said. "Go out and execute to the best of his ability. That’s what I expect from him."
USF and NC State are set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday in Raleigh.
