Jake Bentley excited about 'vast amount of playmakers' following impressive spring game performance
South Carolina hasn’t exactly been known as an offensive powerhouse recently. In fact, the Gamecocks finished last season as the SEC’s worst scoring offense. Of course, those numbers are skewed as quarterback Jake Bentley didn’t play until the seventh game of the season. After receiving a major spark at the game’s most critical position, the Gamecock faithful have every reason to be optimistic heading into 2017.
For what it’s worth, Bentley shares the optimism.
“I think (the offense has) grown tremendously,” Bentley said after his strong spring performance (19 of 31 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns). “We’ve got explosive players, and our two most explosive players weren’t playing, that just shows you the depth that we have and just the vast amount of playmakers that we can put on the field. That’s great for us and it’s great to have those guys.”
In case you missed it, here was Bentley’s first pass of the spring game:
The son of a coach, Bentley is also well aware that he isn’t judged solely by his play on the field, he understands the need to step up and lead by example every single day. The young sophomore spoke about the leadership he tries to display on a daily basis, as well as he’s seen from others.
“I pride myself on bringing the energy every day,” Bentley admitted. “Whether it’s a meeting or a workout or at practice, I think it’s infectious to the whole team when they see me or any other guy being real passionate… I try and do that every day, bring that passion, but definitely being in the stadium cranks it up a notch.”
One player Bentley has been high on all spring is early enrollee receiver OrTre Smith. South Carolina’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2017 recruiting cycle, Smith will be looked upon to make an impact in Year 1 for the Gamecocks. According to his quarterback, that’s very likely to happen this season judging by his initial performances.
“I think he’ll definitely make a difference on the field,” Bentley said. “He still has some learning to do, just in learning the plays but he’s a bright guy — asking a guy to come in and learn the whole offense in three weeks is going to be tough for anybody. He’s a great player and I think he’s really going to help us. He’s a big body, he’s able to use his body really well and as he continues to get faster and stronger he’s really going to be special.”
Here’s Bentley’s second touchdown to fellow sophomore Bryan Edwards. If you are a Gamecock fan, it’s hard not to get excited about the future of this offense. Judging by what we’ve seen so far from him, as long as Bentley is suiting up for South Carolina, the Gamecocks won’t be finishing last in any offensive categories again.
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