A closer look: The state of USC’s quarterbacks ... and the lingering Joyner question
As South Carolina quarterback Dakereon Joyner stood on the sideline Saturday in Knoxville, he felt a level of frustration. He was limited by an injured hamstring that has dogged him for more than a month.
He was available, but not in a spot where the staff would use him unless he was needed (see: the Georgia game). So he watched and wanted to be out there, either to catch passes to help Ryan Hilinski or to take some snaps and relieve a teammate getting pummeled by Tennessee’s pass rush.
“Absolutely,” Joyner said when asked is he wished he’d been out there.
He appears to be healthy enough to go now, and it points to some of the issues with the state of the quarterback position at South Carolina and the questions that naturally bubble up around it.
Hilinski, a true freshman, is standing tall against a barrage of hits and — for stretches — throwing accurate balls and making plays. But there have also been stretches of struggle.
For the season, Hilinski has a passer rating of 118.3. He’s last in the SEC in yards per attempt and is a banged-up true freshman behind a line that was shuffled at the start of the season and is down one of its best players.
Head coach Will Muschamp had already been on the receiving end of a few questions about possible use of Joyner, and he faced a few more this week.
His answers were fraught with coach speak, but they also pointed to a few central tenets of how the staff approaches things.
“We’re gonna do what’s best for the football team and what’s best for the young man,” Muschamp said. “And I think Dakereon is probably as healthy as he’s been in the last two or three weeks, going into this game, and certainly can help our football team in some form or fashion. And, again, we’re going to put the best guy out there and give us an opportunity to win the game.”
That last part is key. When push comes to shove, the staff seems to believe — at least publicly — from hours of practice, film study and everything else, a Ryan Hilinski coming off a knee injury still puts South Carolina in a better spot to win than Dakereon Joyner with a hamstring not at 100%.
It hasn’t yet been shown if a fully healthy Joyner might change that dynamic. He played in garbage time against Missouri, after Hilinski hardly practiced the week before with elbow soreness, but the hamstring issue popped up the week after that. A few weeks later, Hilinski took a hit to the knee against Georgia.
It’s meant South Carolina has gone through practice weeks with both Hilinski and Joyner in various states of being limited. The staff often references performance during the week as a key for playing time at other positions, and that is in part a factor at QB as well.
“Leading into the week, how they perform on the practice field is extremely important,” Muschamp said. “I also think it’s important who you’re playing and what kind of scheme do they play and what is our best matchups and what are the best situations, and give us an opportunity to win the game and be productive. I think that those two work more hand in hand than the other.”
Joyner said the injury issues change the dynamics for players in practice, as South Carolina hasn’t had its top two passers fully healthy in some time.
“It comes down to taking care of yourself early on,” Joyner said. “I think communicating with the training staff and the coaches so they understand how you feel, and it’s all about protecting yourself and make sure you get the best of yourself for Saturday.”
Not being able to fully protect himself was the reason he didn’t play last week. Asked about it, he said it was a “coach’s decision” but also that he didn’t feel he was ready yet.
Multiple players across the roster said they’ve got confidence in both passers and would feel fine if Joyner had to come in. Leading receiver Bryan Edwards said there’s not much the play-makers do to provide extra support, other than to fight for balls in the air or extra yards, as they would in any situation.
Jay Urich has worked behind Joyner and Hilinski this season as the emergency QB. He was supposed to be transitioning to wide receiver, but the rash of injuries has forced him back to full-time signal caller.
He described the situation as simply being “all up to the coaches.” Players have to perform when the chance comes and keep working for whatever outcome is ahead.
And he agreed there has to be a level of trust between all the quarterbacks and coaches, that they’ll be observed and given chances in a way that matches their performance.
“Trust is a big, big thing, especially in the quarterback room,” Urich said. “It’s a competitive room so you want to be able to trust each other and then the coaches trust you.”
It’s worth considering the spot Hilinski is in at the moment. He’s been thrown in against an SEC schedule. He’s got three green offensive linemen in front of him, all whose run blocking is more advanced than their pass blocking.
He’s nursing the knee, had the elbow issue and is going through stretches of inaccuracy mixed with moments of putting balls on the money. One teammate who is close with Hilinski, tight end Nick Muse, gave a little insight into his experience.
“I always like to know how he is,” Muse said. “Sometimes he feels better than some other days, but when he’s not healthy, I try to help him as much as I can, encourage him.
“When he is healthy, the man can play. The man’s good and DK (Joyner) looked 100% (Tuesday) so therefore, he’s going to be a playmaker for the rest of season hopefully.”
