Dakereon Joyner ‘forever grateful’ for return to the field, takes larger role
South Carolina quarterback Dakereon Joyner zeroed in on exactly what the gameplan was for him going into Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.
“Definitely get me the ball,” Joyner said after the 24-7 win.
And that turn was a bit or relief after going through, give or take, five weeks of uncertainty surrounding him.
The Dakereon Joyner on the field Saturday evening was close to the one fans expected at season’s start. He was in early and often. He carried the ball nine times, and the staff built multiple misdirection looks off his presence in the lineup (he ran into loaded boxes at point and finished with only 9 yards).
It’s a luxury that hasn’t been available to USC in recent weeks.
“The last two weeks, he hasn’t been healthy,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said. “It was totally an emergency situation. He was going to have to be a pocket passer and hand the ball off. The run was not going to be an option. He was healthy enough to be able to do those two things but not run the ball. And so we had that discussion going into the Florida game and the Tennessee game.”
That’s not ideal for a player whose speed and mobility is probably his top attribute. He hurt his hamstring before the Kentucky game in late September. Since then, he missed two weeks of practice, came in against No. 3 Georgia and held the line enough for a win, then missed two more games.
Last weekend, he was finally healthy, and the staff wasted little time in telling him he’d have a big role this week.
“That was in the gameplan since Sunday,” Joyner said. “First game back, feeling as healthy as I have been all year. Shout out to my training staff for getting me to where I’m at now. I’m forever grateful.”
There’s a delicacy in splitting time behind center, and USC seemed to navigate it well. While Joyner wasn’t in, starter Ryan Hilinski hit 77 percent of his passes for 235 yards.
Joyner’s health meant the staff got to move former QB Jay Urich back to receiver, where he stated the season before a series of injuries hit the quarterback room.
Joyner’s perseverance this season has been well documented. He lost the backup quarterback spot to Hilinski but didn’t flee to the transfer portal. He accepted playing some wide receiver, and when Jake Bentley was lost to injury, became a backup and multi-positional player.
He’s played a big role in the season’s biggest win, got snaps in a few other games and saw a lot of work this week.
His coach wants to see that last part grow even more.
“You got to continue to expand Dakereon’s package,” Muschamp said. “If we’ve got situations where they’ll (Joyner and Hilinski) be on the field together. So we’ll continue to do that moving forward. Sometimes it’s hard when a young player misses a lot of practice time, it’s difficult.”
