Jake Bentley plans to stay at South Carolina long enough to win a national championship
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You have to hand it to South Carolina rising sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley in this regard, he clearly doesn’t lack for confidence. Thrust into the starting lineup at the halfway point of last season, Bentley helped a 2-4 Gamecock team finish with a 6-6 regular season record and a trip to the Birmingham Bowl.
While South Carolina lost its bowl game to USF in overtime, the team showed massive strides in the second half of the season after entering the year projected by many to be the worst team in the league.
In his seven games of action, Bentley threw for 1,420 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions. Not bad for a guy who skipped his senior season of high school to enroll early in Columbia.
Bentley spoke to the media for the first time in his college career Wednesday, following the team’s scheduled press conference, and was asked by reporters how long he planned to stay in Columbia. The question was poised to Bentley if he would consider leaving for the NFL after three seasons — if that was an option for him down the line.
Judging by his answer, Bentley’s only goal at this point in his career is bringing home a national title to Gamecock Nation.
“I’m thinking to stay here for four years right now,” Bentley said. “I want to win a national championship, and however long that takes, I’m going to do it.”
Bentley was then asked if the team was built to accomplish such a lofty goal.
“Every year we expect to win the East and the state,” Bentley added. “If we don’t do that, we fall short of our expectations that we have set for ourselves. The young talent that we have is definitely ready to win a national championship, win a SEC championship and we are willing to do whatever it takes. We are working hard so far, and we’ll build on it in the spring.”
The quarterback’s words ring very similar to that of his head coach’s, who declared the goal of the program was to bring home championships.
“This is coaching staff has won multiple, multiple championships,” Muschamp said Wednesday, “national championships, conference championships, we know what good looks like. We know what it feels like and our players, in my opinion, have done a good job of buying into that and understanding that culture we want to go with.”
Judging by the comments of the head coach and starting quarterback, South Carolina expects to do just that in the future.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
