What Dakereon Joyner has been able to show Gamecocks coaches of late
Dakereon Joyner’s chances to play quarterback, really play the position in a continuous manner, are few and far between.
The South Carolina redshirt freshman chose not to transfer when he finished as runner-up for the backup job at the start of this season. He played the role of good soldier, worked in at wide receiver and operated as a backup and change-of-piece option behind center after an injury to Jake Bentley. With a hamstring issue limiting him as a runner, he took the field as an emergency passer and led the Gamecocks to one of their greatest wins in recent years against Georgia.
And this weekend, he got a little time late in a blowout, running the offense not as a run-first option, but just as a quarterback running the show. And he impressed his coach a little.
“I thought he did a nice job” Gamecocks football coach Will Muschamp said. “Nice hole ball on the sideline on the Cover-2 look there and took a little Yogi route there, hit Kyle Markway. It was a nice ball. So did some nice things in limited possessions.”
For those wondering, a hole shot is dropping a ball over a corner but outside the range of a safety along the sideline, a pass he hit to walk on Trey Adkins. A Yogi route has a tight end go 5 yards downfield and work either inside or outside based on the leverage of his defender.
When Joyner made public his decision to stay, he said he still saw himself as a quarterback and had sights set on competing for the job next season. To do that, shoring up his passing is likely a must, and getting game reps can only help.
His 3-for-4 day on Saturday netted 40 yards before a vicious hit send him to the sidelines and brought starter Ryan Hilinski back in. For the season, Joyner has 168 passing yards, 107 rushing and 46 receiving.
Assuming no attrition, he will likely be competing with Hilinski and incoming freshman Luke Doty through the offseason.
In some other ways, this season has not gone ideally for Joyner, as a nagging hamstring knocked him out before the Kentucky game and really limited his ability as a runner for about a month. He had to balance reps between receiver and quarterback and lost valuable developmental practice time.
During the broadcast of the A&M game, the commentators said he had still been limited somewhat as of last week, but his coach painted that as not exactly true.
“At this point in season. I don’t know anybody that’s 100%,” Muschamp said. “But certainly, he’s been cleared to play as far as his health is concerned, as far as the hamstring is concerned.
“I thought he looked good as far as some of the runs last night when he did run. He did play more receiver for us last night (more) than he has been.”
