Watch: Ryan Hilinski scores his first college touchdowns — running and passing
He was deadly accurate early on, but when it came time for South Carolina freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski to score the first touchdown of his college career, he got it done with his legs, not his arm.
In the first quarter of USC’s home opener Saturday against Charleston Southern, Hilinski, starting in place of the injured Jake Bentley, held onto the ball himself and plunged into the end zone from four yards out to put South Carolina up 14-0.
That score capped an impressive first few drives for Hilinski, who completed his first nine passing attempts for 82 yards, targeting eight different receivers. The touchdown was his first rushing attempt of the game.
Early in the second quarter, Hilinski recorded the first passing touchdown of his career, finding senior receiver Bryan Edwards on a slant for a 10-yard score. All told, Hilinski completed 15 of his first 17 passing attempts, not missing for the entire first quarter, and topping 130 yards in the process.
A four-star recruit and among the top pro-style quarterbacks in his class, Hilinski was one of the crown jewels of coach Will Muschamp’s 2019 recruiting class. After enrolling this spring, he won the backup quarterback job over redshirt freshman Dakereon Joyner in training camp. After Bentely injured his foot on the final play of last weekend’s loss to North Carolina, Hilinski was elevated to the starting role.
This story was originally published September 7, 2019 at 12:32 PM.
