We are now 18 days away from Game 1 of the 2025 season for the South Carolina Gamecocks football team. As we draw near, the Gamecocks have been well underway in their fall preseason camp in the lead-up to their August 31st showdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies. That said, while we know that LaNorris Sellers will be QB1 to start the season for the Gamecocks, who will be QB2?
There are some options for the Gamecocks when it comes to being the backup for Sellers in 2025. There is freshman Cutter Woods and Ohio State transfer Air Noland. However, the other player in the quarterback room, the "old man" of the group, is graduate student Luke Doty. Doty enters his fifth and final season for the Gamecocks, entering the 2025 season. He joined the Gamecocks in 2020 as a freshman from Myrtle Beach, SC, where he appeared in eight games. He threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns in the eight games he appeared in for the Gamecocks.
He followed it up by throwing for 975 yards on 86 completions, all while playing in six games in 2021. He ended up with five touchdowns in his sophomore season. Unfortunately for Doty, once Spencer Rattler arrived as a transfer from Oklahoma, he South Carolina native started his journey as the Swiss Army knife for the Gamecocks. He saw time as a wide receiver and on the special teams. He could have left, but he remained loyal to the program that he joined out of high school.
During the start of fall camp, head coach Shane Beamer was asked about who could be the backup to Sellers in 2025. The player? Luke Doty. “If we had to play tomorrow and LaNorris had to come out of the game for a play. Luke would be the next quarterback in the game as we stand here today.” The reason why it could be Doty is his experience playing quarterback for the Gamecocks since 2020, even if he's been mainly used as a wideout or a returner recently.
Honestly, it makes sense for it to be Doty because he was recruited as a QB out of high school and showed flashes of being a good one when he first joined the Gamecocks. While QB2 and QB3 will see some battles throughout fall camp, the player who should be the backup is Doty. He has the most experience and knows the playbook/system just as well as anyone in the room. Plus, his loyalty goes a long way, especially in an era where he could have left with the transfer portal and the NIL. However, he stayed and has only grown as a person and as a player for the Gamecocks. His preparation is on another level compared to other QBs for the Gamecocks, who are battling for QB2.
Beamer went on to say, “Luke is strictly a quarterback. Luke is smart enough where if we needed him to go take some reps at receiver — I shouldn’t say strictly — he’s still working in the return game. He’s doing all that, but in regard to offensive positions, he’s not doing anything with wide receiver right now. We could put him out there and certainly do some things with him from a receiver standpoint, but he’s working at quarterback right now."
It is good to have versitility on the roster for the Gamecocks, especially when they have to replace almost the whole special teams unit. For them to have Doty be the selfless QB to be a returner speaks volumes to his team-first mentality. However, to have him be QB2 also gives the Gamecocks some flexibility and secturity in 2025 if anything happened to Sellers. The experience and preparation that Doty brings will be a boost that some will be thankful for in the QB room in 2025.