For a second straight training camp, Liberty is in the midst of a quarterback competition with several names involved. Last year, the Flames had three different quarterbacks start a game with four QBs receive playing time. New head coach Jamey Chadwell wants to find the one quarterback the team can rely on all season without having to go back and forth between multiple quarterbacks.
Johnathan Bennett and Kaidon Salter appear to be the current front-runners with Southern Miss transfer Trey Lowe, Nate Hampton, and true freshman Reese Mooney looming. Chadwell hopes to make the decision on the starter prior to the end of the month of August.
“We want to make it going into the week before the first game,” he said. “I’d like to have 8 practices with this is who we’ve established as the starter. Whoever earns that job, hopefully they will, they’ve got about 15-17 practices to do that. That will get us to August 23rd, 22nd, somewhere around there. That will give us 8 practices to prepare for our first opponent.”
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.
“The person that wins that job will be the one that’s consistent day in and day out and then takes care of the football and doesn’t put us in bad plays,” said Chadwell on day one of Liberty’s fall camp.
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.
Mooney was a three-star recruit out of high school, committing to Liberty under previous head coach Hugh Freeze and then sticking with the Flames after the coaching change. He joined the program this summer.
“We might not be great, but if we can take care of the ball and keep it away from the other people we have a chance to win some games,” Chadwell said. “We’re not going to ask them to do anything extravagant, just play within the system that we give them.”
