Gamecocks QB Perry Orth turns to family for Mississippi State prep
As South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth began preparing for a second consecutive road game, he turned to an unusual source for information.
Family.
Orth’s brother, Evan, is a sophomore quarterback on the South Alabama team that upset Mississippi State this past weekend. The Jaguars rallied from down 17-0 to stun the Bulldogs, and the Gamecocks signal caller wanted some tips.
“I’ve talked to him over the last few days, schematically, what they looked like,” Perry Orth said Tuesday morning, “who their personnel was and what the did and what they had success with. So yeah, I’m actually going to give him a call on the way to class right now and talk about a play that we’re thinking about running.”
Tight end Hayden Hurst said several players watched the second half of the MSU-South Alabama game, mostly because of the Orth connection.
Perry Orth joked he now has to live up to what his brother’s squad accomplished in a small bit of sibling rivalry. The fifth-year Gamecocks senior also got an assist from the family in preparing for the noise in Starkville.
“My mom was sending me videos,” Orth said. “She was down at the game on Saturday. She’d send me videos of the cowbells and all the stuff that they do.”
Who’s that?
The most infamous player on the Bulldogs’ roster hasn’t played a down yet.
Jeffery Simmons was a five-star prospect who was suspended for the opener after an arrest and a video surfacing of him punching a woman. The smaller punishment for the 6-foot-4, 310-pound freshman drew criticism from the national level, but several Gamecocks brushed off any mention of him.
“I’m not really sure who that is, honestly,” guard Cory Helms said. “He wouldn’t have been on tape. We’re just watching the returning guys from last year and the guys that played in the first game.”
Tailback David Williams said he knew who Simmons was but hasn’t paid him much mind during game prep.
Wanted: another leg
Gamecocks kicker Elliott Fry handled double duty, place kicking and doing kickoffs for USC against Vandy. Coach Will Muschamp would prefer to split that work, and while freshman Joseph Charlton showed a booming leg (on punts) in camp, he didn’t travel to the opener.
“Michael Almond has been better, actually,” Muschamp said, noting Almond made the trip to Nashville. “I would love for one of those guys to take that job. I don’t like necessarily having your field goal kicker to be your kickoff guy. Right now, Elliott is our best opportunity. The way we covered, we need to kick it into the end zone.”
Muschamp was also non-committal about the punt return situation after Deebo Samuel fumbled the first punt against Vanderbilt. He said Samuel isn’t out by any means but is fighting for time there with Chris Lammons and Rashad Fenton. A decision will be made Thursday.
Feeling his pain
In Week 1, Fry got to play the hero with a 55-yard game-winning kick, while Mississippi State’s Westin Graves played the goat. Graves missed a pair of field goals, including hitting the upright on a 28-yard game-winning attempt with 6 seconds left.
Fry could empathize with Graves’ plight.
“It’s always hard to see it,” Fry said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is kickers aren’t perfect. You’re going to miss. And sometimes when you have that pressure at the end of the game, it’s not even the pressure that gets you, sometimes you just miss.”
Fry said he plans to say something to Graves in pregame Saturday.
This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Gamecocks QB Perry Orth turns to family for Mississippi State prep."