Date: 8/27
Position: Quarterbacks
Position Coach: Kenny Edenfield

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Desmond Trotter (8 games played, 56-of-97, 820 yds, 8 TDs, 2 INTs, 151.84 rating)

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Cephus Johnson (8 GP, 83-of-161, 900 yds, 5 TDs, 7 INTs, 100.06 rating)

Returning Redshirt/Squad Members: Tylan Morton (R-Jr., Griffin, Ga., Hinds [Miss.] CC); Tanner McGee (R-Fr., Randleman, N.C., Randleman HS)

Newcomers (Yr., Previous school): Chance Lovertich (Jr., Mississippi Gulf Coast CC); Elijah Gainey (Fr., Flowery Branch HS); Brian Garcia (Fr., Ravenwood HS)

Miscellaneous Notes
-Three different quarterbacks saw game action at the position for the fourth-straight season.
- Johnson started the first eight games of the season for South, while Desmond Trotter started the final four.
-Trotter appeared in a total of eight games last season and led the team with eight touchdown passes.
-He recorded a 151.84 pass efficiency rating, improving that mark to 153.42 in Sun Belt Conference play to end up third in the statistical rankings in league-only games.
-Trotter tied a school game record with four touchdown passes in season-ending win over Arkansas State while finishing with a career-high 337 yards of total offense, the most by a Jaguar during the season.
-Lovertich was named second-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American, first-team all-Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges and the South Division's Most Valuable Offensive Back after helping Mississippi Gulf Coast CC win the national championship while going 12-0 his sophomore year.
-He was also selected first-team all-region and the Offensive Most Valuable Player in Region 23 after completing 236-of-366 passes for 2,794 yards and 24 touchdowns.
-Morton played in each of the South's first four contests before sitting out the rest of the season to preserve a redshirt. Prior to redshirting, he threw for 186 yards and a touchdown while adding 20 yards rushing.
-McGee redshirted during the 2019 season after accounting for 3,604 yards of total offense — a school season record — and 41 touchdowns his senior year at Randelman (N.C.) HS.
-Gainey was rated as a three-star 247Sports.com prospect coming out of high school. He sat out his senior season at Flowery Branch HS after suffering a knee injury, but started the previous two years.
-Garcia set school records for wins by a quarterback (34), passing yards (7,873) and touchdowns (102) at Ravenwood HS in Brentwood, Tenn.

Kenny Edenfield
- On the competition between Trotter and Lovertich: "I think that the competition has been great. They've worked really well with each other and helped each other get better; they thrive on that. They've both gone with the ones and twos. I feel Desmond (Trotter) has probably had as good of a camp since I've been here. I feel Chance (Lovertich) has done a really good job considering he didn't get a spring season. Both of those guys have a chance to play for us."
- On what's he's seen out of all the quarterbacks: "I also think Tanner McGee has done a nice job this fall. He's taken advantage of his opportunities. He knows what his role is and he's ready if we need him. I'm also excited about our two freshmen, Elijah Gainey and Brian Garcia. They've both worked hard. They haven't got a lot of reps yet, but I feel if they had to get in there, we could give them some work."
- On experience Trotter was able to get playing the final four games of the season last year and how he's used that: "Desmond is definitely a more confident player. He's playing a lot faster and not thinking as much. He's thrown the ball really well. Those four games really prepared him, especially the last couple. This entire offseason, he's done a really good job in our Zoom meetings of being locked in and learning. He's thinking really fast out of the field right now, making quick decisions and that's what we want."
- On what will be keep for the position this fall: "Like anything, it's going to be about making good decisions, protecting the football and giving our guys chances to make plays on the ball. A lot of times success is a fine line. If you look back on the Arkansas State game at the end of last year, there were a couple of plays that could have gone either way, but Des did a good job of making a quick decision, and then guys took care of him by making plays. If we continue to do that this season, I think we'll have a chance."

Desmond Trotter
- On the experience he gained starting the final four games last season: "I meant a lot to me to have that experience. To just be able to stay patient throughout the season, staying prepared and waiting for my opportunity. Heading into this season, that experience just gives me a confidence boost. I feel I have a better view of the game and that things have slowed down for me."
- On how this fall camp has been different for him: "I've been able to get more reps. I also I feel that I know more about what's going on on both sides of the ball, not just on the offensive side. I'm able to ready the defense clearer and know better where I'm going with the ball."
- On how the competition between himself and Chance Lovertich has helped make each other better: "The competition has really pushed both of us. We love each other to death and I like how competitive Chance is. We both match with our competitive drive. We just go out there and try to make each other better and the team better, because we are the leaders of the team."

Chance Lovertich
- On how fall camp has gone for him: "Camp's gone really well. I've really been able to get in the playbook. We missed the spring, but I've still been able to learn and understand it in camp. With the live reps, I become more and more comfortable with it every day."
- On what he brings to the position that sets him apart: "I feel it's pretty cliché to say, but I bring a lot of competitiveness to the table. I'm not 6-foot-3, so I have to play that much faster and know what to do because I can't just stand back there and use pure skill and throw it 70 yards down the field like some others can. I feel like I have to be extra prepared because I don't have the intangibles that others have."
- On how the quarterbacks have made each other better with the competition during camp: "We make each other better every single day. We come out here and push each other. Tanner (McGee) pushes me every day, and Des is pushing me. Even the freshmen right now are pushing us. They'll get out there in (7-on-7 skeleton drills) and throw a bunch of good balls. We definitely make each other better during our individual drills."

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