Joey Gatewood is no longer playing quarterback

In a shocking development that nobody saw coming, Joey Gatewood has switched positions. After giving it the old college try one more time during the 2021 season, the former Kentucky quarterback is now playing wide receiver for the UCF Black Knights.

“Joey’s a guy that moved to receiver last week and he’s got a real chance,” head coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday. “So I’m excited to see his development with that.” 

This time one year ago Gatewood was competing alongside Beau Allen to be the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. After failing to win the job during the spring, Will Levis arrived on campus for fall camp and stole the show. Mark Stoops gave the top-ranked athlete in the 2018 recruiting class enough notice to make a move prior to the start of the 2021 regular season.

Gatewood had an opportunity to play earlier than expected in Orlando. UCF starter Dillon Gabriel broke his collarbone in the third game of the regular season by going down on the final play against Louisville. Even though he had a bye week to prepare, Malzahn opted to play a true freshman over the guy who spent two years in his system at Auburn. The writing was on the wall.

Last fall Gatewood played in ten games, yet only attempted eight passes. He was used in various running situations, rushing 28 times for 143 yards and a touchdown. It was not so different than the way Malzahn played him at Auburn behind Bo Nix, which initially drove him to Lexington. He received one start over Terry Wilson in his one season as a Wildcat, completing 15-of-25 passes for 92 yards and rushing for 23 in a 14-3 home loss to Georgia.

A 6-foot-5, 235 pound athlete, Gatewood has all the physical tools to make plays on a football field, but lacks the touch and consistent accuracy to play the quarterback position. After struggling to find a rhythm as a pass-thrower, hopefully this move will better suit his skill-set, allowing him to thrive as pass-catcher. After watching Izayah Cummings switch positions last fall and succeed, I’d bet Gatewood could have done just fine if he decided to make this move a year ago, instead of giving QB one more try for Malzahn at UCF.