BALTIMORE – University of South Alabama senior quarterback Jake Bentley was named to the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List announced Thursday by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc., along with presenting sponsor A. O. Smith Corporation.

It's the second time this month that the Opelika, Ala., resident has been recognized after also making the Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List.

The Golden Arm Award annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class.  The semifinalists, finalists, and award recipient are selected by the distinguished Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, and former players.  Candidates are chosen based on player performance on and off the field.

Bentley began his collegiate career at South Carolina, where in three seasons he completed 626 attempts for 7,527 yards and 55 touchdowns while twice leading the Gamecocks to a postseason bowl appearance.  He was voted a team captain his sophomore and junior years, and was also selected Most Valuable Player of the 2017 Outback Bowl after throwing for 239 yards — highlighted by a pair of touchdowns in the last 16 minutes — to help lead USC to a come-from-behind victory over Michigan.

At Utah last year, Bentley completed 77-of-124 (62.1 percent) of his attempts for 882 yards and six touchdowns, including recording a season-high 240 yards and two scores in a defeat of No. 21 Colorado while leading the Utes on a three-game winning streak.

With 8,409 yards and 61 touchdowns passing in his career, he enters the 2021 campaign ranked in the top 15 among active players at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Golden Arm Award is named in honor of Johnny Unitas, an 18-year veteran of the NFL who played his collegiate career at Louisville before joining the Baltimore Colts in 1958.  The 2021 award winner will be presented the Golden Arm Award trophy by The Johnny Unitas Educational Foundation President, John Unitas Jr., at the Golden Arm Award banquet and celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Md., on Friday, Dec. 10.

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