South Carolina football: should Gamecocks be worried about QB situation?

South Carolina football is in a bit of a jam when it comes to its current quarterback situation. Projected starter Luke Doty sprained his foot in a preseason practice last weekend, leading some to believe that he will not be available for game one, and beyond.

Coach Beamer has been positive about the injury, saying adamantly that he thinks his signal caller will be back in time to see action in that season opener, but a foot issue to a dual threat passer is never good. Following the news, the South Carolina coaching staff went ahead and made some on-the-field moves to improve the depth at the position.

First, the offensive staff began implementing a small package for wide receiver Dakereon Joyner under center, which should give the team a little flexibility moving forward. Joyner has been in this situation before, having split time between wideout and quarterback as a sophomore in 2019. Beamer has said that he doesn’t want Joyner to start joining the group on a full-time basis, but he said that he’d be “dumb” not to be prepared for the worst.

Secondly, Beamer announced that graduate assistant Zeb Noland would relinquish his coaching duties in order to join the roster full-time. Noland has previously played quarterback at both Iowa State and North Dakota State, and he, too, adds depth to a thin group.

QB moves a bad sign for South Carolina football?

While these moves can be viewed as a simply a way to add depth to the quarterback room, they can also be perceived as an unsettling sign that Doty won’t be ready quite as quickly as Beamer is leading on.

Doty is the only signal caller on the roster with SEC experience, and that has come in just 2.5 games of action. Reserves Jason Brown (FCS transfer), Colten Gauthier (true freshman), and Connor Jordan (walk-on) haven’t played in a game with the program yet. If Doty is out for an extended period of time, the Gamecocks could be in trouble.

While South Carolina should take care of business pretty easily against Eastern Illinois in the opener, road trips to East Carolina and Georgia await. Entering those matchups with an unexperienced passer under center could prove to be detrimental.

In fact, Noland is the most experienced passer on the roster, and outside of Doty, he’s the only quarterback to play college football last season. Brown, who transferred from St. Francis University, left the program after they canceled their 2020 season amid COVID so he hasn’t seen the field since the 2019 campaign. Noland was playing for NDSU in the Spring, throwing for 120 yards and a score in a reserve role. Gauthier and Jordan have no NCAA experience.

Will Gamecocks fans be excited if a player that’s been on the official roster for just two weeks starts the first game? That could be a legitimate possibility.

Are Brown and Gauthier ready for SEC football? That’s another question mark.

We’ll likely see all three of these players in the opener, especially if Doty remains on the sidelines. Hopefully coach Beamer’s diagnosis on Doty’s return is correct, because the quarterback position will continue to be a major concern if things are drawn out longer than expected.