Breaking down every play from Luke Doty’s first stint as top Gamecocks QB
South Carolina quarterback Luke Doty stepped away from pressure time and again against Missouri.
The Gamecocks football freshman juked veterans, the threw passes from impossible angles, he turned on the jets and showed an unrestrained sort of flair.
Not all of that was good in the 17-10 loss, but he gave USC’s offense a little more color when he stepped in for Collin Hill. Off a solid debut as a full-time quarterback, it was worth rewatching every play to see what he did well and what went right.
Drive 1
1st and 10, USC 27 - Just a simple play-action slant. Linebackers jump up to open the lane, but Doty put a little too much on it and walk-on Trey Adkins couldn’t haul it in.
2nd and 10, USC 27 - Mizzou dialed up a nice pressure that USC frankly didn’t do well picking up. Doty dodged the best Tiger defender, slipped another tackle and went a tidy 15 yards for the first.
1st and 10, USC 41 - Handoff on an RPO
1st and 10, MIZ 46 - Handoff on the same RPO
2nd and 9, MIZ 45 - South Carolina’s protection against the initial four-man rush was not super, then a pair of delayed rushers came in mostly unblocked. Doty was hit as he threw, the ball sailed. He’s lucky there was no middle field safety, but it was still over everyone’s heads.
3rd and 9, MIZ 45 - Doty had to shuffle up in the pocket, but he threw a laser to Jalen Brooks on a comeback route. That’s a pretty hard one to defend if the ball is placed right and he put it in a great spot.
1st and 10, MIZ 36 - Zone read handoff for not much gain.
2nd and 9, MIZ 35 - South Carolina broke out a cool play design where the QB can either pitch the ball to the back running outside or carry himself on a counter. He got past the unblocked defender and slipped a couple tackles before the deep safety tracked him down.
3rd and 4, , MIZ 30 - The snap was high and the pass outside was off.
Drive 2
1st and 10, USC 7 - The Gamecocks started inside their own 10, so they opened with a little QB lead run with the fullback taking out the edge defender. Doty showed a little toughness burrowing in without much of a hole and surged forward for a few yards.
2nd and 7, USC 10 - USC played off Doty’s speed that has him reading a defender and either pitching or running a counter. The defender went after him, Kevin Harris got nice blocks from Nick Muse and Josh Vann and gained 10.
1st and 10, , USC 20 - Doty went under center and USC called a “sail” concept, which gives the quarterback levels to go through while cutting the reads down. Doty found Jalen Brooks coming from the backside for another first-down gain.
1st and 10, USC 31 - South Carolina went with max protection and Doty’s pass to the outside was off. The receiver couldn’t make as good a play on the ball in part because there was contact, and the flag gave USC a few more yards.
1st and 10, USC 40 - Just a handoff in a condensed formation. The backside guard held a slanting lineman and it moved USC back.
1st and 20, USC 30 - The Gamecocks broke out a true spread set and after getting a bit of heat, he started taking off toward space. The peddled up to the line, still looking to throw, then juked the defender and scampered for 12.
2nd and 8, USC 42 - South Carolina went with a speed option to the boundary. Doty kept, pushed ahead for 3 and might’ve been able to get more but his left tackle couldn’t quite contain Mizzou’s star linebacker.
3rd and 5, , USC 45 - Mike Bobo tried to roll Doty out, and for a moment he had Brooks open on the short out. But safety Martez Manuel, who was playing on the edge, dropped at the last second to fill the throwing lane and bat it down.
Drive 3
1st and 10, USC 13 - Starting inside their own 15, the Gamecocks gave Doty a seven-man protection and let him attack deep. The pass was a bit far, but Missouri’s defender again got handsy with Jalen Brooks to draw a flag.
1st and 10, USC 28 - USC dialed up the same look as the play before. The corner played it better and the deep ball went incomplete.
2nd and 10, USC 28 - The Gamecocks went back to the QB counter/toss read play. The left tackle held, wiping out a modest gain.
2nd and 20, USC 18 - Doty got flushed and just threw a wild pass while getting sacked. What was most wild was he completed the dang thing. It took a lot of arm and a little magic to get the ball into a tight window to Nick Muse despite going down at the same time.
3rd and 8, , USC 30 - Mizzou sent a slot blitz. Usually a QB has to throw over that. It didn’t look like the receivers were set in time before the defender arrived for a sack.
Drive 4
1st and 10, USC 23 - Muse does well to find some space on the out route. Doty did well to hit him on the sideline.
2nd and 5, USC 28 - USC again went with a seven-man protection. Doty had maybe a little lean as he threw, but he hit the slot receiver with a laser over the middle. The play didn’t count as there was a hold.
2nd and 15, USC 18 - A little pressure forced Doty outside the pocket and he actually did a very good job of floating to his right, not quickly breaking into a run. The patience was rewarded when a yard short of the line of scrimmage, his slot receiver, walk-on Trey Adkins, popped open for the catch.
3rd and 5, USC 28 - Now with USC running a little higher tempo, Doty targeted Muse on a corner route. The ball was well placed and Muse had beaten his defender (aided by a stumble) to make the window pretty open.
1st and 10, MIZ 47 - A quick toss to the boundary side on a comeback route was off target, or maybe the receiver broke the wrong way. In either case, Bobo again gave his QB a seven-man protection.
2nd and 10, MIZ 47 - A six-man protection broke down against a five-man rush. Doty slipped past a free runner and got a lot of space. He probably could’ve taken a few more yards, but he tried to juke a defender (did a pretty good job) but it allowed a Tiger to get back in the pay and chase him down.
1st and 10, MIZ 30 - The four-man rush eventually got there. It’s not clear if Doty should have maybe dumped it off, but he instead scrambled into space and then bulldozed for a gain of 8.
2nd and 2, MIZ 22 - The play looks like maybe an RPO, but something goes wrong and Doty ends up trying to follow Kevin Harris who was going behind sweep blocking. Harris doesn’t really block, which suggests it’s a bust, but on the way out of bounds, Mizzou lays a late hit.
1st and 10, MIZ 13 - Doty tries to force a pass on the wheel route and comes close to getting picked. There was also a hold.
1st and 20, MIZ 22 - Doty just takes the quick hitch on a smash concept, gaining 5.
2nd and 15, MIZ 18 - The pass is to the end zone, but Doty sailed it. Bobo was irked about something after.
3rd and 15, MIZ 18 - With pressure coming, Doty went with a hard toss to Adkins over the middle. The Upstate product showed a little speed to get a few more yards.
4th and 5, MIZ 8 - South Carolina went with a swing screen, completing the pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The blocking was good and Deshaun Fenwick’s surge was good and he just powered for the first down.
1st and goal, MIZ 2 - The Gamecocks went with an unbalanced power formation with two fullbacks, one a starting guard. A power run got Fenwick right up to the goal line.
2nd and goal, MIZ 1 - Same play as the last one, Fenwick scored.
Drive 5
1st and 10, USC 1 - Backed up on his own goal line, Doty found Muse on the out again, just a short toss for some breathing room.
2nd and 5, USC 6 - A pressure from the right side forced Doty to step up. He kept his eyes downfield but got past the line of scrimmage before throwing a nice pass to Brooks, which meant a penalty.
3rd and 7, USC 4 - This was a special one. The snap kicked off Doty’s hands. After catching it, he almost took off running, but pulled up to hit Josh Vann on the over route for 16 yards.
1st and 10, USC 18 - Protection broke down, Doty flipped the ball to Kevin Harris, who has a little trouble turning upfield.
2nd and 6, USC 20 - Missouri drops almost everyone into coverage. After Doty surveyed for a good five seconds, he just dumped it off short to Harris, who got some yards and slipped out of bounds.
3rd and 2, USC 24 - The Gamecocks got Nick Muse running a short out when the defender over him blitzed. Doty saw it quick, got the ball out, got the first on an 8-yard hookup.
1st and 10, USC 36 - The pressure came quickly. Doty had to throw it away.
2nd and 20, USC 36 - With a minute left and 64 yards still to go, Doty got a bit impatient. Mizzou dropped eight, he tired to force the dig over the middle of the field, it got picked off.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 12:54 PM.
