When you think of Hawaii, what comes to mind first? The beautiful beaches? Volcanoes? Postcard scenery? I'm sure many would say Pearl Harbor as well. One thing that doesn't typically come to the forefront of your mind is football.
Sure there have been some talented football players to come out of the Aloha State including Byron Chamberlain, Max Unger, Matt Blair, Tyson Alualu, and even more recently Marcus Mariota, Hercules Mata'afa, Manti Te'o, Kamalei Correa and DeForest Buckner.
Besides Mariota though, there have not been many great quarterbacks to come from the volcanic archipelago. But in this 2018 college football season, there are three great quarterbacks and they all have Heisman potential.
**DISCLAIMER: All three quarterbacks have indeed overcome the language barrier in their transition from Hawaii to the contiguous United States.**
1) McKenzie 'Magic Man' Milton - UCF | Mililani, HI
Measuring in at a whopping 5-11, 185 pounds, McKenzie Milton has taken the college football world by storm. Coming out of high school, Milton was rated a three-star prospect by 247sports.
In his freshman season at Central Florida in 2016, Milton completed 194 passes on 336 attempts (57.7%) for 1983 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He also ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns.
He burst onto the scene in his sophomore campaign - year two of the short Scott Frost era at UCF. En route to a 13-0 National Championship season, Milton completed 265 passes on 395 attempts (67.1%) for 4037 yards, 37 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He accompanied his loaded passing statistics with 613 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
Milton and his Knights have struggled to gain the affection of poll voters but if he leads UCF to another great season in year one under new head coach Josh Heupel, they won't be able to ignore him any longer.
Through two weeks of the 2018 season, with their week three game being cancelled due to Hurricane Florence, Milton has completed 45 of 71 passes (63.4%) for 589 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. He has also rushed for 66 yards.
2) Tua Tagovailoa - Alabama | Honolulu, HI
Second and 26 from the Georgia 41-yard line in overtime of the National Championship game, trailing the Bulldogs 23-20......Tua drops back, throws it downfield, hits DeVonta Smith in stride and he strolls into the endzone! Alabama wins their second National Title in the CFB Playoff era and they do it on the back of a true freshman.
After Jalen Hurts continued to prove how bad he is at the quarterback position in the first half of last year's national championship game, Saban's desperation to avoid losing back-to-back titles drove him to start the true freshman in the second half. It would prove to be the difference in the game.
Tua came in and threw for 166 yards on 14/24 passing (58.3%) with three touchdown passes and one interception. It was one of the most outstanding and encapsulating performances we've ever seen on a championship stage.
Tua is one of the most gifted southpaws I have ever seen. He came out of high school as a five-star recruit according to 247sports and he supplemented his value on the biggest stage in college football in a game that the Tide were going to lose if he never got the chance to play.
Through the first two games of the 2018 season, Tua has started both games over Hurts and has thrown for 455 yards on 25/35 passing (71.4%) with six touchdown passes and no interceptions. He also has 46 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
3) Jordan Ta'amu - Ole Miss | Pearl City, HI
Jordan Ta'amu didn't get his first start with the Rebels until halfway through the 2017 season. He came out of junior college as a three-star prospect according to 247sports. It didn't take him long to set the scoreboard on fire each week for the probation-stricken Rebels.
He finished his short 2017 campaign completing 115/173 passes (66.5%) with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also accumulated 165 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
He entered the game against LSU after then starting quarterback Shea Patterson went down with an injury. The Rebels ended up losing that game 40-24 and Ta'amu finished 7/11 passing for 78 yards. After that game, he started the last five for Ole Miss, leading them to a 3-2 record that included an Egg Bowl victory over arch-rival Mississippi State.
Through the first two games of the 2018 season, with Shea Patterson now at Michigan, Ta'amu has thrown for 784 yards on 45/65 passing (69.2%) with seven touchdown passes and no interceptions.
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