Shortell transferred to Jacksonville State after spending two seasons playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
[1] For football, he was coached by former NFL Pro Bowler Tim Grunhard,[2] and led his squad to 6–4 record, while completing 147-of-277 passes (53.1 percent), for 2,643 yards, 21 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in 2010 as a senior.
Shortell would lead a rally for the Gophers, but they came up short, as he threw an interception to end their drive and the game.
[14] He made his second career start the following week against Purdue, where he completed 2 passes for 9 yards,[15] only seeing 2 series as the quarterback, before being pulled in favor of Gray.
Shortell was listed as the backup following spring camp, and served that role for the first three games of the season.
A surprise came during the Gopher's week 7 game at Wisconsin, when true freshman, Philip Nelson was named the starting quarterback.