Bentley bringing 'swag' to Gamecock offense
Jake Bentley should be in high school right now. He should be playing for some high school in Alabama or South Carolina chucking it up to fellow 18-year-old wide receivers. Instead he’s playing Division I football, and he’s winning games.
Bentley started Saturday against UMass, throwing for 201 yards on 17 completions. He also threw two touchdown passes—one to K.C. Crosby and another to Bryan Edwards—both from at least 15 yards out.
So why wouldn’t he be confident heading into his first SEC start this weekend against Tennessee?
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“Jake’s got a little bit of swagger,” offensive lineman Mason Zandi said. “You got into your first start and throw two impressive touchdowns and relatively no mistakes, that’s a big deal for a kid who’s supposed to still be a senior in high school. He’s got a little bit of swagger to him right now, and keep riding that hot hand.”
The energy was up Saturday as Bentley led the Gamecocks (3-4, 1-4 SEC) to a season-high five scoring drives. Bentley was so amped on the Gamecocks first score of the game, a one-yard Rico Dowdle run, he almost fell over fist pumping.
Cornerback D.J. Smith, who played against Bentley in practice when the freshman was third string, said Bentley was piecing the offense together but has come along tremendously and is leading the Gamecocks to a win.
“He brought some excitement. Jake’s got some swagger to himself,” Smith said. “He’s a freshman but he plays like an older player. He’s got some confidence. He’s got a swag, and I feel like him having a swag makes the offense come alive.”
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The offense, which had looked anemic through six games, had a glimmer of hope. It put up no more than 20 points in a game all season. Bentley helped put up 34 Saturday. Only one quarterback this year (Perry Orth) threw for over 200 yards. Bentley threw for 201 on nine-less completions.
A playbook that looked thin suddenly opened up a little more, and it helped skill position players have success as well. Eight receivers caught a pass and Deebo Samuel had a season-high 108 yards.
“We took more shots downfield which created explosive plays, with that being touchdowns too,” running back A.J. Turner said. “I think that’s something we did really good last week and we’re going to work on it this week. We need shots downfield and we need points to put up against Tennessee so we can win.”
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The offense, which Zandi and Turner both said were close to clicking, seems to have found its new leader.
With Tennessee coming in Saturday, Bentley’s competition gets a little stiffer. Turner described the Volunteers as a completely different team than the Minutemen: faster, stronger, better.
It’ll be the first conference test for the freshman, but Turner’s hoping his performance carries over this week.
“We talked about turning the corner and when we’re going to clean up everything so we can start getting these wins. I believe last game gave us a boost,” Turner said. “Hopefully we’ll bring it this week. We’ll need it; this is a great team we’re playing.”
Will Muschamp said Brandon McIlwain will continue to challenge Bentley and come in for special formations, but the offense is Bentley’s to run.
Bentley’s only six games into his college career and there’s plenty for him to improve on, but Smith thinks his touchdown celebration needs polished up going forward.
“We got to get him something, something,” Smith said, chuckling. “He need to watch Cam Newton for some celebrations. Maybe that’ll get him going.”