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Orth or Nunez: Who Should Start for Gamecocks?

By Tristan Dixon

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When South Carolina Gamecocks back up quarterback Perry Orth came in the game to replace an injured Connor Mitch, no body really knew what to expect. To our surprise Orth threw some pretty passes that had some nice zip to it. Before the half ended, another quarterback came in for a Hail Mary play, Lorenzo Nunez.

Nunez got a great reaction from Williams-Brice when he got into the game and many thought that maybe we were going to see more of what he had to offer. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see how he could pass the ball but we did see him run for 33 yards. Many fans were all for him being the starter after that long run, but you must understand that Kentucky was playing in a prevent defense on that play so the field was wide open for Nunez to run.

What you can take away from that play though is that Nunez is really fast and that could really come into use for our offense that still seems to struggle with passing the ball. Nunez as the starter could open up the opportunity for the read option, which worked to perfection for Connor Shaw when he started for us. The biggest question I have with Nunez is if he knows the play book yet, which has to be the case because he is way too good of a talent for Spurrier not to play.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Now back to the quarterback who will likely start every game this season, and who I think has a lot of potential to lead our Gamecocks to a win this Saturday against Georgia, Perry Orth. Orth went 13-20, throwing 179 yards and showing some good and ugly promise with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Orth turned off a lot of fans with his interception that cost us the game against Kentucky, but what we have to remember is that Orth was taking limited snaps in practice coming into the game since he was second string. Orth was throwing balls on target the whole time he was in the game, and if you take away the drop balls from his receivers when he threw into the end zone, than we wouldn’t question who should be starting at quarterback. Other than the interception, we scored every drive with Orth under center. If Spurrier calls some plays different like not running under the shotgun and instead running with the I Formation, I’m sure we would have come out of that game beating Kentucky convincingly.

Now who should start at quarterback going into the game against Georgia? The answer is very simple, Perry Orth should. Now do I think Lorenzo Nunez should get some playing time in the game Saturday? Of course I do. I think Nunez can burn Georgia running the read option and if he can catch their defense off guard with them expecting him to run if he can complete a some passes. With Orth throwing the ball and Nunez to help some when we get in the red zone, we could get right back on track to having a good season with a win against the Bulldogs.

Next: How Changing the Culture at SC Hurt Steve Spurrier

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