Southern Miss football loses quarterback who was expected to compete for starting job
Southern Miss redshirt sophomore quarterback Tate Whatley has decided to wrap up his college football career and won’t be part of the program when spring practice starts on Feb. 23, USM coach Will Hall told the Sun Herald on Friday.
“He graduates in May and he’s ready to go to work and be an adult,” Hall said.
Whatley started two games during the 2020 campaign and four games total during his three seasons in Hattiesburg. He played his best football this past season, but injuries limited his time on the field.
The Florida native suffered a concussion at the end of the 56-35 loss at Liberty on Oct. 24 and a shoulder injury on the final snap of his return performance against UTSA on Nov. 21.
Whatley’s departure leaves USM with three scholarship quarterbacks for the upcoming season — redshirt sophomore Trey Lowe III, freshman and Louisville transfer Tee Webb and Taylorsville signee Ty Keyes.
Hall still feels good about his quarterback situation.
“It doesn’t really change much,” he said. “We’ve got Tee Webb and Trey Lowe. Instead of splitting snaps three ways this spring, we’ll split them down the middle. We’ll add Ty Keyes in the fall and we’ve got three quarterbacks that were all top-30 recruits out of high school. I feel really strong about our quarterback room.”
Hall doesn’t feel a need to add another scholarship quarterback at the moment.
“We may if (assistant head coach) Reed Stringer finds another quarterback that helps us win, but right now I’m excited about going through the spring coaching Tee and Trey and the other young men. I’m excited about adding Ty this summer,” he said.
Lowe is the only USM quarterback who has taken a snap in a game after playing in four contests in 2020, including three starts. He completed 36-of-59 passes for two touchdowns and three interceptions.
If Whatley had remained with the team, he would have been in the hunt to be USM’s starting quarterback when the season starts on Sept. 4 at South Alabama.
He completed 91-of-169 passes for 1,110 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions in a career mostly spent backing up Jack Abraham, who has transferred to Mississippi State. Whatley was also a strong athlete, running 98 times for 217 yards and seven touchdowns.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 2:28 PM.
