South Alabama planning to play ‘multiple’ QBs in bowl game
South Alabama coach Kane Wommack concedes his team will likely play more than one quarterback in Saturday’s 68 Ventures Bowl vs. Eastern Michigan, he just hasn’t said how many or which ones.
Starting quarterback Carter Bradley is still dealing with the effects of a knee injury he aggravated in the regular-season finale vs. Texas State, a game in which fellow senior Desmond Trotter came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes. Then there is true freshman Gio Lopez, whose redshirt status won’t be affected if he plays against the Eagles (6-6) in the bowl game.
“Carter’s throwing the ball pretty well right now,” Wommack said Wednesday. “He’s moving around fairly well. So we’re probably in a position to where he can do what he needs to do on game day.
We’ll still kind of decide what that looks like in the next couple of days here as we get closer, in terms of who is going in the game first. We’re going to play multiple quarterbacks in the game, I would think. But certainly, these three weeks of rest have been good for (Bradley).”
Outside of injuries or the occasional blowout situation, South Alabama (6-6) hasn’t made a habit of playing more than one quarterback in the same game during Wommack’s three seasons on the job. Bradley — the Jaguars’ all-time leading passer in nearly every category — has started every game but one the last two years, when Lopez stepped in against Troy on Nov. 2.
Trotter has 16 career starts, but none since 2021, when he filled in for an injured Jake Bentley for two late-season games. The myriad possibilities for the Jaguars under center on Saturday has given Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton plenty to think about, though he said he’s used to it.
“There’s differences between them for sure, but it doesn’t go from really good to really bad,” Creighton said. “That’s the thing, it’s just which ‘good’ is going to be out there.
This is not normal, but over half of our games this year we were preparing for multiple quarterbacks. It was really an odd year that way. So with this game, it was just like ‘here we go again,’ in terms of having to prepare for multiple quarterbacks.”
Bradley and Trotter are both sixth-year seniors, and thus suiting up for the final time as college football players on Saturday. The two have combined for 9,708 yards and 75 touchdowns passing in 56 career games at South Alabama, 40 of them starts.
Lopez has played in just four games with one start, but is regarded as South Alabama’s quarterback of the future. The freshman from Madison has completed 27 of 42 passes for 283 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, while also rushing for 66 yards and a score.
“I think it’s been going well, just taking every rep as a learning experience,” Lopez said. “I’m just trying to learn from everybody every chance I get, the other quarterbacks and the coaches. I feel like I’ve grown as the season has gone along, especially in the mental parts of the game.”
In addition to the quarterback uncertainly, South Alabama is without two major offensive weapons for the bowl game. Two-time 1,000-yard rusher La’Damian Webb is out with a toe injury, while All-Sun Belt Conference receiver Caullin Lacy — who set a program record with 91 receptions this season — entered the transfer portal and has since signed with Louisville.
Eastern Michigan has also been hit hard by transfers, including starting quarterback Austin Smith, guard Zack Conti and defensive end Mikah Coleman. Either junior Ike Udengwu or freshman Cam’Ron McCoy — who have combined for just 29 pass attempts this season, 28 by Udengwu — will start at quarterback vs. South Alabama on Saturday.
“Eastern Michigan, they play complimentary football,” Wommack said. “They do a really good job of moving the ball methodically down the field. They make good decisions on third down to extend drives and they take care of the football for the most part. They like to just bleed the ball all the way down the field, and we can’t allow them to do that.
“And then on defense, they play good situational football. They don’t give up many explosive plays and make you earn everything you get. We’ve got our work cut out for us in that regard.”
South Alabama is more than a two-touchdown favorite over Eastern Michigan in Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 6 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jaguars are pursuing their first-ever bowl victory, while the Eagles beat San Jose State 41-27 in last year’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl for their first postseason win since 1987.
South Alabama is one of two teams playing its bowl game in its home stadium this year, along with Memphis, which faces Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29. However, the Jaguars are technically the visiting team, and will wear “road” white uniforms and use the “away” sideline and locker room.
“There are 41 bowl games and 39 of them are at neutral sites,” Creighton said. “It fits who we are. We’re underdogs. We’re blue-collar southeast Michigan. So we’re happy to wear green, but we know we’re the visitors.”
Saturday’s 68 Ventures Bowl will be televised live by ESPN.
