Five-star QB Jake Garcia commits to 2021 USC football recruiting class

USC football recruiting got a huge shot in the arm Monday night, when five-star quarterback Jake Garcia committed to the Trojans.

That didn’t take long. Just over 24 hours after losing four-star 2020 quarterback Bryce Young on a flip to Alabama, the 2021 USC football recruiting class got a big boost with five-star quarterback Jake Garcia.

The Narbonne pocket passer announced his commitment to the Trojans Monday night on Twitter.

Garcia, 6-foot-1.5 and 188 pounds, is ranked as the 14th overall recruit in the 2021 class by the 247Sports Composite. He’s the third-ranked pro-style quarterback and the second-best prospect in the state of California.

Most importantly, he’s an enormous get for Clay Helton. The program has struggled to string together recruiting wins, especially on top of Sunday’s de-commitment of Young, the No. 2 dual-threat QB and No. 32 player in the class of 2020.

As of Monday night, Trojans still rank 62nd nationally in the 2020 class, behind the likes of Tulane (47th), East Carolina (54th), Louisiana Tech  (59th) and South Florida (61st). Garcia won’t help that standing, but he’s vital for providing some stability at quarterback going forward.

The Narbonne ace brings a big-time arm with mature pocket pressence, which would transition nicely to the Trojans’ air raid attack under Graham Harrell, should he still be USC’s offensive coordinator in two years.

The timing of his arrival would suit the Trojans as well. JT Daniels’ ability to take a redshirt in 2019 because of injury, as well as the emergence of true freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis made the recruitment of Young for 2020 more tricky, with a greater-than-expected delay likely for him to see the field. Garcia can step on campus in 2021 with Slovis entering his junior year or Daniels returning as a redshirt junior, were it to play out like that.

As a sophomore in 2018, Garcia played just nine games after being cleared on his transfer to Narbonne, but put together a strong campaign. He passed for 2,130 yards and 15 touchdowns, to go with five interceptions. He led the Gauchos to the brink of a second-straight CIF State Championship Game appearance, losing to San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High School, 24-21 in the semifinal.

USC’s class of 2021 now features Garcia, along with four-star linebacker Ma’a Gaoteote and four-star defensive tackle Jay Toia.