Breaking down South Carolina’s QB options as Luke Doty heals up
South Carolina suddenly has a quarterback problem.
With sophomore Luke Doty going down with a foot injury on Friday, the Gamecocks are in need of a new QB1 — at least for the next few weeks. So where do head coach Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield turn? The options are limited.
St. Francis transfer Jason Brown has worked his way into the mix after he missed some time during spring due to an undisclosed illness. Now down 20 pounds and nearing game shape, the former FCS signal caller took second-team snaps as recently as last week.
“Whenever we were done with spring I had to buckle down and really get my body right,” Brown said last week. “Because I know if I want a chance to play here, I want to be able to control what I can control.”
During his time at St. Francis, Brown was largely effective. He completed 253 of 411 pass attempts for 3,124 with 28 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Fans were notably introduced to the Virginia native when he combined with former St. Francis teammate E.J. Jenkins for a pair of touchdowns during the annual Garnet and Black spring game in April.
“Man, Jason had himself a day,” Doty said of Brown after the spring game. “And that was really awesome to see, ‘cause he’s a guy that just comes in every single day and just works.”
While Brown would be the presumed favorite, freshman Colten Gauthier could get a real look at starting the Sept. 4 season opener against Eastern Illinois.
Gauthier was one of the highest-rated players in South Carolina’s 2021 recruiting class that ranked No. 79 nationally and lowest in the Southeastern Conference per 247Sports.
The Georgia native was a bit of a mixed bag at the high school level. His arm strength and stature at 6-foot-3, 217 pounds are there. However, Gauthier barely completed more than 50% of his throws while playing private school ball at Hebron Christian Academy.
Speaking following the first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, Beamer noted Gauthier’s improvement can be directly attributed to his arriving on campus in January.
“I don’t even know if he’d have even had a chance to be in the conversation if he wasn’t here for spring practice,” Beamer said. “And don’t me wrong, we’re not running some offense that’s hard to understand and our players can’t execute, but it’s a lot.”
Satterfield, too, has raved about Gauthier’s progress during the offseason. Satterfield joked it feels as though Gauthier has been on campus forever after he arrived as an early enrollee.
More pressing, South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator spoke on how quickly Gauthier has been able to grasp the offense and concepts around what he hopes to install.
“Colten is executing things at the line of scrimmage right now that NFL quarterbacks are doing now,” Satterfield said last week. “We’re not we’re not executing (plays) like NFL quarterbacks yet, but from the mental standpoint of actually knowing the ‘why,’ I think that’s pretty cool that he’s already to that point.”
With Doty now down, Brown and Gauthier are the only healthy scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Beamer did tell reporters former four-star quarterback-turned-receiver Dakereon Joyner has been running under center of late. Joyner has flip-flopped positions regularly during his time at South Carolina but adds an extra wrinkle to the quarterback equation.
“Eastern Illinois, East Carolina, Georgia, until Luke is back, be ready for that wrinkle in our offense,” Beamer said of Joyner.
South Carolina also has walk-ons Connor Jordan and Jake Helfrich as options if things get particularly hairy under center. Helfrich, a freshman out of Charlotte, previously had offseason heart surgery to correct a condition he has had since birth
Beamer had a stern message for South Carolina fans concerned that the season might be derailed before it begins should Doty — who’s dealing with a sprain in his foot — not have received as clean a bill of health as he did Saturday.
For the time being, though, Beamer and Satterfield are going to have to find someone capable of potentially starting a season opener that was supposed to be Doty’s coronation as QB1 in Columbia.
“I know there was a lot of doom and gloom,” Beamer said on Saturday. “I saw and heard a lot about how the hopes of our season hinged on the results of an MRI and, frankly, that’s bull crap. We’ve got a hell of a football team and whether one guy is in or out, we’ve got 117 other guys ready to step up no matter who’s out.”
