USM football is battling more tough luck at quarterback. Here’s where things stand.
Southern Miss quarterback Tate Whatley appears unlikely to play against UAB on Friday after making his return from a concussion last week versus UTSA.
Whatley, who became USM’s starter after Jack Abraham entered the transfer portal last week, injured his right shoulder late in Saturday’s 23-20 loss to the Roadrunners.
USM interim coach Tim Billings said Monday that the redshirt sophomore suffered a strain to the AC joint in his right shoulder.
“Tate is day-to-day, but it doesn’t look real good today,” he said. “We’re going to have to see.
“It’s a tough thing because it’s on his throwing shoulder.”
USM offensive coordinator Matt Kubik seemed resigned to the idea Monday that he’ll be going with third-string quarterback Trey Lowe III, who has made two starts this season.
Abraham, Whatley and Lowe have each made two starts this season, and each quarterback has something different to offer, putting pressure on Kubik to come up with a different game plan every week.
“It’s been challenging,” Kubik said. “You want to give the personnel you have the best chance possible to win a game. There are things that Trey does well and we’ll have to accentuate those this week.”
Whatley missed three games after suffering a concussion at the end of the 56-35 loss at Liberty on Oct. 24.
Against UTSA on Saturday, he completed 22 of 39 passes for 272 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“I was really proud of Tate,” Kubik said. “He was out for a long period of time and had to jump right back in there. Tate made some critical mistakes, but he hasn’t played in over a month.”
Lowe, a West Virginia transfer, was USM’s starter in the 23-14 win over North Alabama on Nov. 7 and the 10-7 loss at Western Kentucky on Nov. 14. He has completed 23 of 40 passes for 224 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
If Whatley is unavailable, redshirt junior Jack Walker would be Lowe’s backup.
Walker, who originally signed with Georgia State out of Madison Central High School, is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound transfer from Northwest Mississippi Community College.
“He played in junior college and started,” Billings said. “Jack is a good player, but he hurt his thumb earlier in the year and he’s finally getting well know. I’ve been watching him and he’s still throwing with a glove. He’s throwing the ball a lot better than he was.”
USM (2-7, 1-4 Conference USA) travels to UAB (4-3, 2-1) for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff Friday on CBS Sports Network.
It will be the Blazers’ final home game at Legion Field before they move into 47,100-seat Protective Stadium next season.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
