One more year: Jake Bentley will return to South Carolina for senior season

South Carolina’s ride with Jake Bentley has one more season.

The junior quarterback, who was considering an early jump to the NFL, announced Friday that he’ll return to Columbia for his senior season. He’s been a starter for 2 1/2 seasons and will get a chance to put a final cap on his career.

“When you look at it, our team goal, we haven’t accomplished,” Bentley said in his announcement video. “So that’s kind of what eats at me, that we haven’t accomplished our team goals yet. That’s what we start every meeting with is to beat the East and win the state. That’s kind of the mindset for me, I’ve got to do whatever it takes to accomplish those.

He’s the second of three potential draft prospects to make his choice. Donell Stanely announced he’ll return to USC. Bryan Edwards has yet to make his decision public.

ESPN’s Todd McShay projected Bentley as a second- or third-round player in the 2019 draft, but also said he should return to school.

Bentley’s journey in Columbia has had its share of ups and downs.

The son of one of the most successful high school coaches in the state’s history, he turned down Alabama to join the team that hired his father, Bobby. Then he skipped his senior season of high school to enroll early.

For about half his freshman campaign, he appeared destined to redshirt, but with the team in desperate straits, he became the starter and thrived. He led USC to a 4-2 finish to the regular season, securing a bowl spot.

Bentley came into his sophomore year with high expectations, and delivered a solid but at times inconsistent campaign. He threw for 2,794 and 18 touchdowns, but 12 interceptions helped drag his rating down to 130.7.

His junior season featured an up-and-down start, with struggles against good Georgia and Kentucky defenses and an injury that sidelined him against Missouri. He had a poor first half after returning against Texas A&M, earning a cascade of boos in the process. He caught fire as a comeback bid fell short and posted strong numbers the rest of the regular season (he set a school record with 510 yards against Clemson).

But things closed on a sour note. USC’s offense sputtered in the second half against Akron and then died against Virginia in the bowl. Bentley was 17 of 40 with 218 yards and a pair of interceptions.

He posted a statistically impressive season with the third-most passing yards in school history (3,171), second-most touchdowns (27). But he also faced biting criticism at times along the way.

South Carolina’s 2019 QB picture:

Returning starter - Jake Bentley

Likely backups - Dakereon Joyner, Jay Urich

Incoming freshman - Ryan Hilinski

Departing senior - Michael Scarnecchia

This story was originally published January 4, 2019 at 3:52 PM.