Dakereon Joyner had a key role for USC on Saturday. That should only increase

In his first game on campus, South Carolina’s Dakereon Joyer worked as a mop-up quarterback. In his second game, he played wide receiver after losing a battle for the backup QB spot.

Joyner took another step Saturday. Maybe being a change-of-pace quarterback isn’t the end goal, but it is a role and it is what the team needs.

“I’m definitely excited,” Joyner said. “I’m just here to be the best guy Ican be. I think I’m doing a good job of doing that. My teammates helped me a lot, you know, kept my confidence going at every position.”

Joyner got half of a drive before the game got completely out of hand. On that lone possession he flashed ability.

His first carry went 41 yards. After faking one hand off, he took off to the left. He saw Bryan Edwards throwing the block to clear the way, and then tailback Rico Dowdle swooped in to take out another defender.

Oh, and Joyner juked a couple of people out of their shoes.

“After I pulled the ball, I saw (Edwards) had the guys sealed off blocking my side to the sideline,” Joyner said. “I saw green grass, I had to go. Just playing ball. I enjoy playing ball. That’s what it was.”

A few plays later, he finished off the drive with his first college touchdown. On the called run, he said he saw the edge defender working way outside, and he knew he had a wide open lane.

That possession, his only one before taking over for Ryan Hilinski after the game was out of hand, featured him on the field with two tailbacks, a look the Gamecocks haven’t broken out under Will Muschamp. It brings to fruition a long-discussed idea of finding a way to get Joyner on the field with his own special offensive package.

He said he found out about the plan early in the week.

After losing the backup quarterback battle to Hilinski, Joyner had bucked a trend of quarterbacks taking the transfer route and instead agreed to chip in at wide receiver.

“He approaches it like he’s the starter at quarterback and obviously a starter in our rotation at the receiver position,” Muschamp said. “He’s extremely bright, so you can learn everything. He handles everything very well. He can really help our football team in a lot of different areas, not just at receiver, not just at quarterback. So we his role will continue to evolve as we move forward.

“It gives us a lot of options and creates a lot of issues for the defense.”

Joyner finished with 53 rushing yards on four carries, caught a pass for 12 yards and completed one pass for no gain.

Joyner came to Columbia as a four-star prospect, a dynamic dual threat player with a 40-3 high school record, nearly 10,000 passing yards and a pair of 1000-rushing yard seasons to his credit.

Now, 15 games into his time in Columbia, he is carving out his place in the Gamecocks mosaic.

“He’s a very mature guy,” Muschamp said. “He’s a very intelligent guy. He handles what we do very well. And I think again, his role is just going to continue to expand as we move forward.”