While Bentley has more freedom, Roper still the play-caller

[gtxvideo vid=’WwEQ6tOJ’ thumb=’http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/WwEQ6tOJ.jpg’ vtitle=’While Bentley has more freedom, Roper still calling plays’]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — While Jake Bentley will have more freedom in USC’s offense this season to audible at the line of scrimmage, make no mistake: he’s not the offensive coordinator.

At least, he’s not yet.

On Monday, Gamecocks offensive coordinator Kurt Roper made it clear who will be responsible for the play-calling.

“I’ll be calling the plays,” said Roper. “The game is too complicated to put that onus on the quarterback.”

Bentley is entering year two with the Gamecocks, but really, it’s year 1.5 after playing in just seven of USC’s 13 games last year, including the Birmingham Bowl.

While Bentley has been impressive, throwing for over 1,400 yards and 9 TD’s last season, Roper is still being cautious.

“What you did is you help him with parameters,” said Roper. “If we have a pass called that we don’t like against a certain look, he (Bentley) has the ability to change that pass route.”

But Roper isn’t necessarily drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the plays.

“When we get to the sideline on the end of a series, Jake’s the kind of guy that I’m going to say, ‘Okay, is there anything you’re feeling good about?’ and I’m going to take that into consideration.”