The moment didn’t faze Luke Doty. Still, a little advice for Gamecock fans: patience
Luke Doty left an impression on his coach, Mike Bobo, and his South Carolina football teammates.
He’s only a true freshman, one who has been through an unusual 11 or so months. But the moment, getting thrown in during the second half of an SEC game, wasn’t too big for him.
Maybe he played a little wild Saturday as he tried to lead a comeback against Missouri, but that effort produced some positives. He slipped the pocket and he threw darts, sometimes a little too hard. The Myrtle Beach High School product played a role in breathing life into an offense that was DOA after Shi Smith went down with a first-drive injury, even in a 17-10 defeat.
And that brought out the set of “I told you sos” that lingered all season. Jokes were cracked on social media. How did this guy sit? Maybe the fat dads on the couch and the Karens — the words of starting tight end Nick Muse — were right all along.
And maybe when it’s all said and done, they will be. But for the moment, after one half of wild plays and pinballing runs, this advice would be well-heeded by Gamecocks fans:
Chill. Just chill.
It’s possible in a few years that Doty will be the established guy, leading the Gamecocks back to the sort of stability they’ve not had since his interim quarterback coach, Connor Shaw, was leading USC. Doty was even asked after Saturday’s game about similarities to Shaw’s playing style, with one reporter invoking the legendary 2013 performance against a better Missouri team than the one against that Doty tried to lead a comeback.
Optimism isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a lot of emotional weight to put on a player that young, especially days after a social media kerfuffle between fans and players showed the Gamecocks very much do hear what’s being said.
If this was new or an unusual thing, perhaps all this could be left unsaid. But it’s somethings that’s happened before.
Ryan Hilinski had a good debut in 2019 and then he threw for 300 yards against Alabama. Collin Hill threw for nearly 300 yards to start this year, and now it’s cheered when his backup goes in.
Jake Bentley debuted with a win, then helped upset a ranked team. Many fans were calling for his backup in a year when he threw for the third-most yards in a Gamecocks season. Brandon McIlwain debuted with a couple rushing TDs. Lorenzo Nunez ran for 123 yards in his first start and posted a QB rating of 154.8. Perry Orth helped breathe life into a struggling offense — he was benched the next game.
And Connor Shaw, the greatest Gamecock to ever sling it around, saw his first competitive action end with two interception, his first start end with a benching and was dogged by calls for his backup into his senior season.
The start often does not match the end, so it’s OK to wait a little while. A QB can get a few starts under his belt, maybe even a whole season before he gets anointed.
We’ve seen that cycle build kids up and turn on them. For every backup fans called for, there is usually a starter fans once wanted very badly to see but now want to see no more.
Because a player showed flashes doesn’t mean he was this ready in late September, or a month ago or last week. Doty said as much Saturday after running for 59 yards and throwing for 130 more. His knowledge of the quarterback spot grew immensely when he spent time at receiver, a move that left some outsiders confused as he helped little at either spot early on.
Doty’s journey is just starting, and there’s no need to put too much on him from an expectations perspective. He explained after the game that he just went out there aiming to have fun. And he talked about learning from mistakes. Bobo allowed Doty to speak, making him the first true freshman at a USC news conference since before former coach Will Muschamp arrived.
He’s going to have a new coach and a new offense within a month, and that’s going to be its own kind of challenge after the tumultuous week that just passed.
Connor Shaw wasn’t even ready for all that. He wasn’t ready as a freshman or early as a sophomore. The Shaw that was a maestro in 2013 wasn’t the Shaw in the middle of 2011. (The Shaw who punked Clemson that year was pretty darn good, though.)
If Doty is as good as many hope, he’ll get there in his time. And Gamecocks fans probably owe it to him to let him get there in that fashion.
History has at least taught us that.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 1:11 AM.
