USC officially lost a five-star QB then added a five-star QB in less than 24 hours.

The Trojans picked up a verbal commitment from five-star 2021 Narbonne (Calif.) quarterback Jake Garcia on Monday evening. The junior prospect commits right on the heels of USC losing the commitment of 5-star 2020 QB Bryce Young, who flipped to Alabama on Sunday. Garcia chose USC over a Top 10 list that included Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, LSU, Tennessee and San Jose State.





"It felt like home. It's a testament to the coaching over there when you have two new quarterbacks to the system step in and take over without missing a beat, just play and take over the team as a leader," Garcia told USCFootball.com. "That was really impressive to me. I get a long with the coaching staff real well, Coach (Graham) Harrell, head coach Clay Helton. They have athletes over there. A lot, a lot of athletes....and a lot of my family can go to the games. I grew all around USC stuff when I was little. My whole family are SC fans so that's really cool."

Garcia has been impressed with the QB-friendly offense that's taken over the Coliseum, which has already led to impressive performances by Kedon Slovis and Matt Fink. The junior prospect admitted he was in a bit of a wait-and-see mode early in the season when it came to the offense.

"I was excited when they hired Harrell and I knew they were going to put up numbers," he said. "I just didn't know how well it was going to fit me. But after seeing what they have done so far, and I ended up going to the game at Stanford, it's pretty much similar to the offense we run at Narbonne. I feel like I'll be a really good fit.

The whole staff knows now," said Garcia with a grin. "They were really excited. They said we are going to do special things together."

The 6-foot-2, 188-pound Garcia is a five-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite, rated the No. 14 overall player in the 2021 class, the No. 3 pro-style passer and the No. 2 recruit in California. The 247Sports rankings has Garcia at No. 32 nationally, No. 4 at his position and No. 4 in the state. Miami initially led in the Crystal Ball projections at 83 percent but that shifted to USC on Monday morning.

The 5-star signal caller transferred to Narbonne for his sophomore season and threw for 2,130 yards, 15 TDs and five interceptions in nine games in 2018. So far this season he has 1,299 passing yards, 14 TDs and six interceptions. During his freshman season he served as the backup to Ole Miss signee and former USC commit Matt Corral at Long Beach Poly. In six games he threw for 408 yards, six TDs and zero interceptions. He completed 86 percent of his passes.

"A pure pocket passer with a pure stroke and effortless delivery. He throws with touch and accuracy, can change speeds and already has an advanced feel for the position. Understands timing and anticipation, gets the ball out early and understands how to throw his receivers open and allow them to make a play after the catch. Shows toughness in the pocket and will stand in and take a hit to deliver the football," wrote West Coast Recruiting analyst Greg Biggins. "Can improve his pocket mobility and overall athleticism, although he’s not a bad athlete and can take off and run when he needs to. Shows poise under pressure and never looks rattled. Has the kind of makeup for the position you like to see and is very respected among his coaches and teammates. Projects as a impact upper tier Power 5 starter and future high round NFL draft pick."

USC offered several mobile QBs the last several months while Garcia is considered a true pocket passer. But Garcia has shown ability as runner; last season he ran for 99 yards and two more scores. And as Slovis showed against Stanford, a pro-styler passer can thrive in the Air Raid. Garcia has a simple response to those who point out he's not a dual-threat QB.

"We're going to put up numbers. I promise you we're going to put up numbers, the system's going to work," he said. "I have the receivers to where I don't need to need to be a full on runner. I'll run if the game is on the line. I'm definitely fine with having the ball in my hands, just as a leader just being able to have the ball in my hands. But we have enough athletes SC where you can get the ball to them and let them make a play with it."

Garcia joins an impressive 2021 USC class, now ranked No. 6 in the country. He joins early commitments from four-star outside linebacker Ma'a Gaoteote, four-star defensive tackle defensive tackle Jay Toia and three-star wide receiver Velltray Jefferson, who committed in the spring. Garcia said he will be taking on the leadership role for the class in 2021 and help with recruit for the 2020 class along with four-star wide receiver commit Josh Jackson, one of Garcia's top weapons at Narbonne.

"I'm about to start recruiting," he said with a smile. "We are going to get a lot of guys. A lot of good guys, a lot of top-tier guys to Southern California."

USCFootball.com reporter Shotgun Spratling contributed to this report.