Jake Bentley named to Walter Camp list

COLUMBIA, S.C.  – Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley is one of 50 “Players to Watch” for the 2018 Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year award, the nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade, it was announced today.

Bentley, a 6-4, 224-pounder from Opelika, Ala., has started each of the last 20 games for the Gamecocks, posting a 13-7 record. He ranks 10th in completions (370), second in completion percentage (63.3), 11th in passing yards (4,214) and 11th in passing touchdowns (27) in school history. Bentley needs seven victories to become the sixth quarterback to win 20 games at Carolina, joining Connor Shaw (27), Todd Ellis (24), Garry Harper (20), Stephen Garcia (20) and Steve Taneyhill (20).

In all, 41 schools and 11 conferences (including independents) are represented on the list with defending national champion Alabama, Miami (Florida), Clemson, Ohio State and West Virginia each having two players.

There are 38 offensive players (17 quarterbacks, 15 running backs and six receivers/tight ends) on the list along with 12 from the defensive side of the ball.

“We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation,” Foundation president Michael Madera said. “This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football.”

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November.  The 2018 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 129 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN on Thursday, December 6.  The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s 52nd annual national awards banquet on January 12, 2019 in New Haven, Conn.

Please note: Appearing on the preseason Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-America team.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org; @WalterCampFF) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.