South Carolina football: looking at all the quarterback options
By Jacob Elsey
South Carolina football’s options in the ’21 QB room.
The Gamecocks are in a period of flux inside the program, as the team is going through a coaching change. With that coaching change, a number of players have decided to move away from Columbia, entering the transfer portal in order to find a new opportunity elsewhere.
That is no different for the quarterback room.
The South Carolina football program has seen starters Ryan Hilinski and Collin Hill both announce their intentions to leave the team, leaving Luke Doty as the only remaining signal caller with game experience. Incoming freshman Colten Gauthier will be the only other passer on scholarship.
With little depth or experience, Shane Beamer and the South Carolina coaching staff will need to mull through all of its options in providing quality experience and creating competition at the most important position on the football field.
Those options consist of players currently inside the Gamecocks’ quarterback room, a player who’s now at a new position, and possibilities in the transfer portal.
Let’s look at each of these options, beginning with the most obvious.
Luke Doty returns as QB1; Gauthier provides depth
Doty finished out his freshman season by starting the Gamecocks’ final two games of the year. In a little of two games of action, the rookie threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns, completing 43 of his 71 attempts, and also tossing three picks.
Doty’s best performance came against Missouri, where he nearly led South Carolina back from a 17-0 halftime deficit after entering the game in relief of Collin Hill. In that game, Doty threw for 130 second half yards, and added another 59 yards on the ground.
Doty followed that outing up with a 190-yard game versus Georgia.
Unfortunately, the Gamecocks lost both of Doty’s starts, but not all of that can fall on the young signal caller. South Carolina struggled mightily, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, with injuries and opt outs, making it difficult for Doty to keep pace with opposing offenses.
After showing promise in his three appearances, Doty will be the frontrunner as the Gamecocks enter 2021.
His backup could be incoming freshman Colten Gauthier, who comes to Columbia as a four-star pocket passer. Gauthier, who is already on campus after enrolling in January, threw for 2,052 yards and 22 scores as a high school senior.