Former South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has decided on his future.
According to a Tweet on Monday afternoon, the former Gamecocks star will transfer to Utah.
“Excited for this next step,” Bentley wrote. “Can’t wait to be a part of the Utah family!”
Bentley will join the defending Pac-12 South champions with one year of eligibility remaining. As a graduate transfer, he should be eligible to compete for the Utes starting job in 2020.
Bentley, who is the son of Gamecocks running backs coach Bobby Bentley, was the primary starting quarterback for South Carolina from 2016-2019. He was injured early in the 2019 season and replaced by freshman QB Ryan Hilinski.
Bentley played in just one game for the Gamecocks in 2019 before suffering a season-ending leg injury. He was expected to be a senior leader for a South Carolina team that went on to disappoint with a 4-8 record.
Bentley’s legacy in Columbia will forever be tied to the Will Muschamp era, as he stepped in as a young freshman to conduct the Gamecocks offense at just 17 years old in 2016.
With the emergence of Hilinski in Bentley’s absence, his departure from the program as a graduate transfer had been anticipated for months.
Landing in Utah will provide Bentley with a chance to compete for a potential College Football Playoff appearance in 2020. The Utes finished the 2019 season with a 11-2 record after a loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Had the Utes been victorious in that game, it was widely believed that they would have earned the No. 4 seed in the 2019 College Football Playoff. Instead, that spot ended up going to Oklahoma as a 12-1 Big 12 champion.
Bentley’s junior season will go down as his best at South Carolina. He threw for 3,171 yards and 27 passing touchdowns in 2018.
Jake Bentley Career Passing Stats at South Carolina
Stats via ESPN.com.
Jake Bentley Highlights at South Carolina
Cover photo credit: Jake Bentley/Twitter
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