Arizona's 15 spring practices certainly helped the team get used to new systems on both sides of the ball, but when it comes the quarterback battle there was not much progress made. Sophomore Will Plummer and Washington State transfer Gunner Cruz established themselves at the top the of the list, but neither one put themselves in position to be named the starter over the last month.

What it means is more work will be done in the coming months head into training camp in August.

There was a lot on the plate for the quarterbacks on Arizona's roster this spring as head coach Jedd Fisch and his staff installed a new pro-style scheme. It was different from what the players have been part of previously, so it came with some growing pains. The quarterback group was not exempt from that.

While the team features numerous quarterbacks, including redshirt sophomore Kevin Doyle and Oregon State transfer Nick Moore, it was clear by the end of the spring that Plummer and Cruz had separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

However, as that duo battled back and forth the Wildcats finished spring ball no closer to finding the top candidate for the job.

“I think it’s still too early to see any separation between the two of them right now in a lot of ways,” UA quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Jimmie Dougherty said. last week “I think they’re both now in that learning phase. We all want it to happen right now. We’re all super anxious for it to happen and feeling that urgency of it all, because we know the time is ticking. At the same time they’re both still really young in this offense, and it seems like there’s so many things that we just gotta go back in and clean up.

“To their credit though, they come out here the next day and more times then not they correct it and fix it. You see that growth and that they’re starting to get better. A lot of it is technique-related things. Things with their drop and their feet and their eyes. Making the proper read, seeing the coverage. All those things that we ask of them, and we’re seeing a lot of growth in terms of that right now.”

Fisch likened the end of spring ball to halftime of a football game, and because of that the competition is far from over. Not only will Cruz and Plummer have to continue competing with one another once training camp begins, there will also be new faces in the mix as well. One of them is going to be the player with the most experience on the roster.

USF graduate transfer Jordan McCloud passed for over 1,300 yards to go along with nine passing touchdowns during the 2020 season. He capped his career with the Bulls by throwing for 404 yards and four touchdowns against UCF.

So, the message from Fisch to his quarterbacks about what to expect once camp arrives is a simple one.

“‘Get ready for a war,’” Fisch said about what he wants the quarterbacks to know heading into the offseason. “They’re gonna compete, and if they want to be the starting quarterback here in September then they better be ready to compete. They got another guy coming in, you got a bunch of guys here and I hope they’re ready for a lot of battles to see who’s going to come out on top in September.”

The players seem to understand that sentiment knowing that spring ball was only part of the puzzle in the overall bigger picture in determining who will eventually take the snaps when the Wildcats open the season against BYU in September.

“We all know that one day out here is not going to get you the starting job,” Plummer said. “You can’t really get too caught up in what other people are doing. It’s just stacking days. Every day you gotta come in work hard, watch film at night, come in a little early and just keep stacking the days on days so that way it can pay off for you in the fall.”

Plummer made one start last season for the Wildcats as a freshman while playing in three games overall. He finished with 388 passing yards as he served as Grant Gunnell's primary backup in 2020.

Cruz appeared in one game at Washington State last season, against USC, and he finished that performance with a touchdown on five completions in seven attempts for 34 yards.

Both quarterbacks threw touchdown passes and went over 100 yards through the air in Saturday's spring game.

• What we learned: Arizona's 2021 spring game

• Video: 2021 Arizona spring game highlights

• Reaction: 2022 safety recruit Gabriel Grubbs talks Arizona spring game experience

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