Its been a long time since Blake Barnett trotted out with the Alabama first-team offense in the 2016 season-opener against USC. Since then, Barnett has suited up for Arizona State, and as of Saturday, South Florida.

Barnett made his debut as a graduate transfer for South Florida under Charlie Strong, and it was certainly the best game he has had in his college football career. Barnett finished 24 for 34 with 305 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. The Bulls beat Elon 34-14 to start the year 1-0.

https://twitter.com/USFFootball/status/1036090084041187329

After losing the starting job at Alabama to Jalen Hurts in 2016, Barnett transferred to Arizona State but was then beat out by current Sun Devils quarterback Manny Wilkins, and Barnett only attempted five passes in his lone year in Tempe.

Barnett then transferred to South Florida to play out his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer and was named the starting quarterback over a week before the season opener.

Barnett is replacing outgoing senior Quinton Flowers, who finished his career at South Florida with over 8,000 pass yards and 71 touchdowns, as well as over 3,600 rush yards and 41 rushing touchdowns in his career. Barnett is a much different quarterback than Flowers in that he is primarily a pocket passer and not a dual-threat player, but his debut showed he appears comfortable in the offense.

In week 2, South Florida hosts Georgia Tech, in what will be Barnett’s first game against a power 5 opponent for South Florida.