Biography
2023 (R-Sr.): Saw action in five of South Alabama's 13 games on the season ... served as the starting quarterback for the 68 Ventures Bowl and helped lead the Jaguars to their first-ever bowl championship in school history ... threw for 351 yards and five touchdowns on the season ... also rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown ... tied the school record with four touchdown passes in the season finale at Texas State ... also threw for 216 yards against the Bobcats ... completed 17 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown in the 68 Ventures Bowl while also rushing for a touchdown.
2022 (R-Jr.): Saw action in five games... Finished 15-for-20 with 144 yards passing... Went 9-for-10 against Nicholls (9/3) for 72 yards... Also ran the ball six times for 27 yards... Ran a season-high two times against Louisiana Tech (9/24)... Recorded 18 yards rushing against Southern Miss (11/19).
2021 (R-So.): Saw action in five with two starts ... Two starts came against Appalachian State and Tennessee ... Finished the year with 380 yards passing while completing 42-of-72 passes ... Accounted for three touchdowns and three interceptions ... Finished with a 108.08 efficiency rating ... Also rushed for 44 yards on 20 carries ... Averaged 2.2 yards per carry and scored one touchdown ... Threw for 226 yards on 21-of-38 passing and one touchdown against Appalachian State ... Threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-32 passing against Tennessee ... Also threw for two touchdowns against Troy.
2020 (R-So.): Was the Jaguars’ starter in all 10 games he played in ... Was 160-of-248 passing for 1,917 yards and 11 touchdowns ... Had a 140.86 pass efficiency rating after completing 64.5 percent — the second-highest total in the school’s season record books — of his attempts ... Added two rushing touchdowns as well while finishing with 1,920 yards of total offense ... Ended up fifth in the Sun Belt Conference in pass efficiency rating, seventh in passing yards per contest and eighth in total offense ... Was among the top 45 nationally in the first category, ranking in the top 85 in the country in the latter two ... Was a Manning Award Star of the Week after posting career-high totals with 299 yards passing and 340 yards of total offense in season-opening victory at Southern Mississippi ... Completed 16-of-27 attempts in the contest, throwing for a pair of scores while also recording a season-best 41 yards on nine rushes ... Connected on 23-of-31 passes for 243 yards at 15th-ranked Coastal Carolina ... Threw of 242 yards and a pair of scores on 16-of-22 passing in win at Arkansas State ... Finished with 200 yards and two touchdown passes after completing 20-of-27 attempts at Georgia Southern ... Hit 8-of-12 attempts for 184 yards and three scores in defeat of ULM, adding 33 yards and a touchdown on the ground ... Completed 18-of-22 passes — his 81.8 percentage stands second on the school game record list (minimum 10 attempts) — for 187 yards and a touchdown in win over Texas State to open Sun Belt action.
2019 (R-Fr.): Appeared in eight games, starting the team’s final four contests ... Completed 56-of-97 attempts for 820 yards, leading the team with eight touchdown passes ... 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 ... Also carried 61 times for 197 yards to finish third on the squad in rushing ... Stood third on the team with 1,017 yards of total offense as well ... In his first collegiate start, finished 13-of-17 passing for 164 yards and two scores while adding 34 yards on the ground at Texas State ... Posted 180 yards of total offense the following week against Louisiana, including a career-best 64 yards rushing on 12 attempts ... Recorded 255 yards of total offense in road finale at Georgia State, throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns ... Tied a school game record with four touchdown passes in season-ending win over Arkansas State while finishing with a season-high 337 yards of total offense, the most by a Jaguar during the campaign ... Was 20-of-31 passing for a season-best 279 yards while adding 58 yards on 14 carries, earning a coaches’ award for an explosive play following the contest ... Threw for 43 yards after coming on in the third quarter against No. 21 Appalachian State in his first extensive action of the year ... Made his collegiate debut at UAB, also appearing in match-ups with ULM and Georgia Southern the next two weeks.
2018 (Fr.): Was redshirted and did not see action ... A member of the Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll.
High School: Received three stars from 247Sports.com, which rated him among the top 45 dual-threat quarterbacks in the country and top 60 recruits in Alabama ... Also considered a two-star recruit according to Rivals.com ... Lettered three years, starting the final two, at Shades Valley High ... Chosen second-team all-state by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as a senior after leading the Mounties to an 8-4 mark and a first-round win the state 6A playoffs ... Accounted for a school season-record 4,040 yards of total offense and 40 touchdowns his final year, completing 193-of-263 passes for 2,326 yards and 17 scores while running for 1,704 yards and 23 touchdowns on 231 attempts ... Also averaged 37 yards per punt that fall with 11 of 30 kicks ending up inside the opposition’s 20-yard line ... In eight appearances as a junior, racked up 1,547 yards of total offense and accounted for 13 scores ... That included going 67-of-132 passing for 1,080 yards and nine touchdowns, and rushing for 467 yards and four scores on 99 carries as the Mounties ended the campaign 5-5 with wins in each of their last two contests ... Lettered in basketball at SVHS as well.
Personal: Full name is Desmond Ryan Trotter ... Born Aug. 6, 2000, in Birmingham, Ala. ... Son of William and April Peake ... Grandson of former Alabama and National Football League Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome, the former general manager of the Baltimore Ravens ... Father played football at Alabama State and mother played basketball at Tennessee State as well ... Favorite movie is “Drumline” ... Favorite team is the Baltimore Ravens ... Favorite athletes are John Wall and Cam Newton ... Favorite musical artist is Lil Baby ... Favorite food is Chick-fil-A ... Favorite class is public speaking ... Major is leisure studies.
