Date: 8/20
Position: Quarterbacks
Position Coach: Major Applewhite

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Desmond Trotter (10 games played, 160-of-248, 1917 yds, 11 TDs, 4 INTs, 140.86 rating); Eli Gainey (10 GP, 6-of-9, 38 yds, 102.13 rating); Tanner McGee (2 GP, 6-of-8, 145 yds, 2 TDs, 309.75 rating)

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Chance Lovertich (6 GP, 47-of-86, 629 yds, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 129.65 rating)

Returning Redshirt/Squad Members: (Yr., Hometown, Previous school): Tylan Morton (R-Jr., Griffin, Ga., Hinds [Miss.] CC)

Newcomers (Yr., Previous school): Jake Bentley (Sr., Utah); Alex Howell (Fr., Murphy HS)

Miscellaneous Notes
-For the fifth-straight season, multiple quarterbacks saw game action at the position.
-Last season, South ranked third in the league in passing offense with 247.2 yards per game, while the group helped Jalen Tolbert set school season records with 64 receptions and 1,085 receiving yards — making him the first 1,000-yard receiver in program history — while his eight touchdown catches tied another program mark.
-In five seasons at the collegiate level — the first four at South Carolina before moving to Utah last year — Bentley has recorded 8,409 passing yards and 61 touchdowns, which both rank among the top 15 among all active players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.
-Earlier this month, Bentley, along with Tolbert were selected to the 2022 Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List, while he as also named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List last week.
-Trotter started 10 games and was 160-of-248 passing for 1,917 yards and 11 touchdowns, while registering a 140.86 pass efficiency rating.
-Trotter completed 64.5 percent — the second-highest total in the school's season record books — of his attempts and ended up fifth in the Sun Belt Conference in pass efficiency rating, seventh in passing yards per contest and eighth in total offense.
-McGee appeared in a pair of games, one of which he came off the bench in the third quarter to help rally the Jaguars to a victory at Arkansas State, completing 6-of-8 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
-Gainey appeared in each of the final 10 outings of the season after taking over as the holder on field goal and extra point attempts. He completed 6-of-9 pass attempts after coming on in the fourth quarter of the annual "Battle For The Belt" in the final contest of the year against Troy.
-Morton sat out last season and played in each of the South's first four contests during the 2019 campaign 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.
-Howell played both quarterback and wide receiver at Murphy High School.

Major Applewhite
- On Jake Bentley's progression over the course of fall camp: "He's continually mastering the offense and learning the details of it day in and day out. He has a lot of experience having played a lot of college ball and taken a lot of snaps. He understands the finer details. His leadership has been great. He's able to encourage others and help teach, while also demanding certain things out of the passing game. His leadership and experience really help us as an offensive unit."
- On what the other quarterbacks have done to put themselves in position to be ready if needed: "I've seen jumps this fall from all the guys, all of them have improved over the summer with some of the work and things they did on their own. I've seen huge leaps from Desmond [Trotter], as well as Tanner [McGee] and Eli [Gainey]. I'm very encouraged by the way that they were able to develop during the offseason. All of those guys have taken a college snap. Desmond obviously has taken the most of those three and has a lot of experience, but I've been impressed by each one of them."
- On keys to the offense being successful this fall: "We always stress the same goals. We want to win the double-positives, winning the turnover margin and the explosive plays, and then we want to be able to own situations, such as being great on third downs, scoring touchdowns in the red area, and then all the other little situational things in the game that sometimes go beyond the fan eye. The short-yardage situation is very important, it's a momentum builder, as well as goal line situations. When we're pinned back on our own one-yard line after a punt's been down, how do we get the ball off the goal line? In the two-minute drill before the half, are we able to steal points going into halftime when we're going to receive the ball to start the second half? Those are our two goals: winning the double-positives and owning the situations." 

Jake Bentley
- On where he's progressed the most throughout fall camp: "I would say the two biggest things for me would be just being more accurate with the ball and then just continuing to grow as a leader and get everybody on the same page with the offense. Just making sure we're all going in the right direction."
- On how he's used his previous experiences in his leadership to the rest of the quarterbacks in the room: "I've just tried to use all my past experiences and teach the guys what I've learned through them. I've faced a lot of different circumstances, so as much as I can pour back into those guys and let them know what I did, whether it was right or wrong. I just try to help them grow."
- On what he feels is a strength of the offense: "I feel that we're explosive. We have a lot of explosive players on our side of the ball both in the running and passing game. We have a lot of explosive pieces to our offense."

Desmond Trotter
- On what he's seen out of the position group this fall: "We are playing smarter and seem to be more aware of what's going on on both sides of the ball. We're able to go out there and execute. Like Coach [Kane] Wommack has said, we want to be the smarter team going out onto the field this fall, and I feel that emphasis has been a huge difference for the offense this year."
- On what he's done to make sure he's ready to go into a game: "I've just made sure that I'm prepared and I continue to compete day after day, and stay in the playbook. Coach [Major] Applewhite tells us that we have to be the ones to take control of the offense. This is our team and we have to own the situational downs and win the double-positives. We just try to go out and execute every day so that we can make plays and win games."
- On what he likes most about this offense: "I would say just how explosive this offense is capable of being. We have playmakers all over the field in different positions. I feel that depth will make it difficult on defenses."

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