Prior to Tuesday’s spring practice session, the 13th of 15 practices this spring, Liberty co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Willy Korn met with the media to address his position group.
For a second straight spring, the Flames are once again in the midst of a quarterback competition. Returners Johnathan Bennett, Kaidon Salter, and Nate Hampton have been competing this spring with Southern Miss transfer Trey Lowe.
“I feel like one day it will be one or two guys and then the next day it will be one or two of the other guys,” Coach Korn said of the quarterbacks competing for the starting spot. “It keeps going back and forth. I don’t think there’s been enough by one person to say, ‘Hey, this guy has stood out the most every single day.’ There is one or two guys that stands out on Monday’s practice and then Wednesday’s practice it’s two other guys. It’s really back and forth right now.”
Bennett is the veteran in the room, having appeared in 12 games last year, and has been in the program the longest. He completed 58.5% of his 224 passes last season for 1,534 yards, 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He also rushed 76 times for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. One of the advantages Bennett had a year ago, was having been in the offense much longer than any other quarterback on the team. Now, that advantage is stripped away due to a new coaching staff and system. Still, he has been around the program for a long time and is looked up to as a leader of the team.
Meanwhile, Salter saw playing time in 8 games, missing several due to injury. He completed 87 of 149 passes for 1,088 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also rushed 69 times for 285 yards and 2 additional scores. The former four-star recruit obviously has some talent and likely has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in the Liberty room. At times, Salter struggled with protecting the football and with decision making.
Lowe, who began his career at West Virginia, transferred to Southern Miss prior to the 2020 season. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. The 6’2″, 235 pound native of Collierville, Tennessee, led the Golden Eagles to their first bowl game victory since 2016 in the 2022 Lending Tree Bowl.
He threw for 209 yards on 13 of 19 passes with 2 touchdowns and an interception in the 2020 season finale. He also rushed for 104 yards on 44 carries in that contest, setting himself up as Southern Miss’ top quarterback going into the 2021 season. He would start the first two games of 2021 before getting hurt and being sidelined for the rest of the season.
He appeared in the 2022 season opener this past year against Liberty, throwing for an interception. He would then be sidelined until late in the year, making the start against Coastal Carolina. With now Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell on the sidelines, Lowe was 19 of 37 for 295 yards and a touchdown against the Chanticleers.
Then in the 2022 regular season finale, Lowe completed 10 of 16 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown while also rushing 5 times for 6 yards as well against Louisiana-Monroe. In the 2022 LendingTree Bowl, Lowe led Southern Miss to the win over Rice as he completed 7 of 16 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 6 times for 7 yards.
Nate Hampton was the fourth string quarterback for the Flames last year, and he even saw playing time in 5 games. In his limited action, Hampton completed 3 of 8 passes for 76 yards with 13 rushes for 19 yards. He showed some flashes of potential, but was primarily used in specific running packages during the 2022 season.
“In a perfect world, we would tell them exactly where they are on the depth chart following spring,” Korn said. “That way, your groups are set for fall camp, but I don’t know if we’re at that point. We’ve got two more practices. We’ve got the spring game. Next week we will have conversations with those guys and give them some feedback of where they’re at, but I don’t think it’s going to be you’re one, you’re two, you’re three because it literally changes every practice.”
