Jake Bentley should be remembered for these top 5 moments at South Carolina
The Jake Bentley era officially came to an end for South Carolina football, as the senior quarterback announced Monday what was widely expected — he will transfer from the Gamecocks to play his final season of college football.
Bentley’s four years at USC will always be intertwined with coach Will Muschamp and his roller-coaster tenure, including low moments like his poor play and injury in this year’s opener against North Carolina, and interception woes as a junior. But he also leaves second in program history in completion percentage (62.5), third in passing touchdowns (55), third in completions (626) and fourth in passing yards (7,527) despite missing practically all of his senior year.
Looking back, here are the top five moments of Bentley’s career at South Carolina.
1. Leading South Carolina to a bowl as a true freshman
Halfway through 2016, with a dysfunctional offense and no clear option at quarterback between Brandon McIlwain and Perry Orth, Bentley stepped onto the scene. A four-star recruit who left high school a year early to join the Gamecocks, he got his feet under him by topping lowly Massachusetts, then proceeded to lead USC from a 2-4 start to a 6-6 finish. He was accurate, he was efficient, and while he wasn’t hugely explosive, he was a steady force under center for a team that desperately needed it. After the mess that was 2015, Bentley’s play gave Gamecock fans a reason to hope again.
2. Winning a shoot-out with Ole Miss
As injuries ravaged South Carolina’s defense in 2018, Muschamp’s preferred style of grind-it-out offense and staunch defense went out the window by necessity. And in its place, Bentley had some big games, none bigger to that point than the one he had on the road against Ole Miss.
With 363 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-32 passing, Bentley put together what was the finest game of his South Carolina career at that point (more on that later). And in a wild, back-and-forth affair that featured more than 1,100 yards of offense, he scored the game-winning touchdown with a four-yard run to put the Gamecocks up 48-44.
3. Coming back to win the Outback Bowl
Arguably the highlight of the Will Muschamp era was South Carolina’s comeback win over Michigan in the Outback Bowl to finish a 9-4 2017 season, and Bentley was the MVP of that game. Trailing 19-3 at one point with the offense scuffling, Bentley and the Gamecocks came out slinging late, reeling off three consecutive touchdown drives at one point to storm back for a 26-19 win. From just 73 yards through two quarters to 239 by the end of the game, Bentley came up clutch when he was needed most.
4. Comforting Jarrett Guarantano
In 2017, after South Carolina rallied to defeat Tennessee on the road, 15-9, Volunteers quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was understandably upset after losing the first start of his career. And while South Carolina celebrated the victory to move to 5-2 on the season, Bentley took the time to sprint over to Guarantano in the immediate aftermath of the game and help pick him up off the ground, comforting him.
That moment helped Bentley win an SEC Sportsmanship Award, and it remains a defining moment for two quarterbacks with up-and-down career trajectories and complicated relationships with their respective fan bases.
5. Torching Clemson in 2018
Bentley never beat Clemson and — like Muschamp — that will always be held against him by some South Carolina fans. But in the 2018 showdown between the two rivals, no one could say the Gamecocks lost because of Bentley. He ripped through the vaunted Tigers defense to the tune of 510 yards and five touchdowns on 32-of-50 passing, breaking the program’s single game passing record. That was by far the biggest game any quarterback had against Clemson’s defense in 2018, a unit full of future pros that won a national title.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 12:15 PM.
