How people reacted when they found out Spencer Petras is still playing college football

Spencer Petras is QB1 for the Utah State Aggies. Interim head coach Nate Dreiling made that crystal clear at USU media day.

“He is quarterback No. 1,” Dreiling said. “I truly believe he is one of the best throwing quarterbacks in the country, and I think in a couple weeks you guys will see that and be saying that as well.”

Petras played somewhat sparingly in the Aggies’ first scrimmage of fall camp — and wasn’t at his best either, missing a couple of throws he wanted back — but he is USU’s starting QB barring injury.

Though he graduated from high school in 2018, that Petras is still playing college football isn’t that unusual given the current state of the sport. He is in the same class as Utah quarterback Cam Rising and Gerry Bohanon, who’s currently in competition to start at QB for BYU.

That didn’t stop people from having fun with the fact that Petras is getting ready to play his final college football season, though. In fact, social media had a field day last month when Petras represented Utah State at Mountain West media days.

Here’s a smattering of that reaction.

But wait, there’s more.

All fun aside, though, there is considerable belief in Petras at Utah State.

Star wide receiver Jalen Royals, who had 15 touchdown receptions last season despite playing with three different starting QBs, praised Petras’ intelligence above all else.

“He’s a very smart quarterback,” Royals said. “He knows what he is looking for in a route and understands defense. He knows how to beat it.”

Dreiling thinks that with Petras at the helm, Utah State will be tough — tough enough to contend with the best the MW has to offer, while remaining electric on offense.

And for offensive coordinator Kyle Cefalo, Petras is almost more akin to a peer than an understudy, someone to work with rather than teach.

“The first thing that anyone can see is the way he throws the football,” Cefalo said. “You can show up to practice and you’ll see that dude throw it far and hard. He’s very talented and has a good presence about himself. Physically he can do the things he need him to do. It starts there.

“But you go back to all the experience he has as a football player, playing in huge environments at Iowa. He’s done a great job. I feel like I work with Spencer. We have a very good relationship. We trust one another and respect each other, and he wants to know why we are doing this, what we want out of this. If he has a question, he is going to ask it, which I love. If he doesn’t love something he’s going to tell me why and we are going to work together to make it work or we’ll get rid of it. He sees the game of football kind of the way a coach would see it.”

Petras is in his final year of eligibility. His longwinded collegiate career near its end, and Utah State believes he will make the most of his remaining time in the sport this fall.