Why Muschamp is letting his young QBs take hits this spring

A few years ago, South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp let his quarterbacks take hits in spring practice.

The outcome was not ideal.

“Unfortunately, Perry Orth broke his collarbone here in my first spring, so that wasn’t very good,” Muschamp said. “That looked to be a dumb decision.”

He wasn’t the only passer who was injured, as Lorenzo Nunez hurt his leg that same spring. So, lesson learned: USC’s top two passers, Jake Bentley and Michael Scarnecchia, are in noncontact yellow jerseys. Their younger compatriots are not afforded that luxury.

Muschamp said Jay Urich and Dakereon Joyner were live in Saturday’s scrimmage and should be the rest of the spring. That means the defense can lay hits on them.

But there’s a good reason the coach wants it to be that way.

“So many times, for a young player especially, to understand the time clock’s got to go off to get rid of the football,” Muschamp said. “That’s what a lot of young quarterbacks struggle with is getting off the ball. Understanding when they’re coming and be able to evade.”

He pointed out both Joyner and Urich have the ability to evade defenders as both are mobile passers.

Urich was a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his final two seasons at Wren High. Joyner is a top-level athlete who ran for at least 1,031 yards as a sophomore, junior and senior at Fort Dorchester.

The coaches expect both to put their legs to use if put in games, and Muschamp has seen progress during the spring.

“Both of these guys are really good athletes, and they’re good quarterbacks as well,” Muschamp said. “You’re not being fair to them, whether or not I blow the whistle and tell the defense it was a tackle or it wasn’t a tackle. You saw some explosive runs by both Dakereon and Jay (Saturday).

“And they both threw the ball well and commanded our offense. I was very pleased with how they threw it and commanded our offense. There were no glitches.”

Muschamp's takeaways from Saturday's scrimmage:

▪ The team got in 166 live scrimmage snaps, the most in one since the current staff arrived. Muschamp said that was a function of the depth the team has.

▪ The offense moved the ball well and threw "as well as we have all spring," Muschamp said.

▪ Jake Bentley and Michael Scarnecchia were both accurate and efficient.

▪ The defense had one interception.

▪ Procedure issues and silly penalties were kept to a minimum, Muschamp said.

▪ Freshman running back Deshaun Fenwick got "a bunch of snaps."

▪ Early enrollee wide receiver Darius Rush "made some plays."

▪ Wide receiver Chavis Dawkins made several catches.

▪ Muschamp praised K.C. Crosby's spring overall. Kyle Markway and Will Register both had catches, and Kiel Pollard had a "big" reception off a scramble.

▪ Tight end Evan Hinson is back at football practice now that basketball's season is over.

▪ Keisean Nixon returned punts along with Shi Smith and Rashad Fenton. Deebo Samuel and Jamyest Williams will get chances when healthy.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Why Muschamp is letting his young QBs take hits this spring."