How South Carolina quarterback Zeb Noland is handling the Gamecocks’ huddle
Noah Sanders just tried to steer clear.
Sanders, then a quarterback at North Dakota State, knew his quarterback Zeb Noland and fullback Hunter Luepke insisted on head-butting one another as a pump-up routine before games. He didn’t want any part of it.
“I’m always one to avoid that,” Sanders told The State through a laugh. “I didn’t need those hardos to be hitting my helmet.”
Then riding a 16-game winning streak, Noland quipped Tuesday he and Leupke kept up the routine as it seemed to coincide with victories. Now though, Noland may have to reel in his head-butting ways when he trots out onto the field at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday as South Carolina’s starter against Eastern Illinois.
“(Luepke) just kind of got excited one day and we started head butting the first game and it’s like, ‘Well, when you win 16 in a row, you might want to keep doing what you’re doing,’ ” Noland said as a smirk crept across his face. “(We) got a little tradition, but I’m not going to be head-butting anybody this weekend.”
Noland has become a national story line in a matter of weeks. He first appeared at South Carolina practice in a No. 25 non-contact jersey. The one-time graduate assistant was then added to the roster, at least in part, as an insurance policy for injured starter Luke Doty. Two weeks later, Noland’s name sat atop South Carolina’s first depth chart of the infant season.
In the time since, South Carolina’s current roster has learned, like Sanders did, about the fiery competitor that resides just below Noland’s calm, self-proclaimed “country boy” exterior.
“He just brings an older presence to not only the quarterback room, but the offense,” Gamecocks center Eric Douglas said. “Sometimes if things are going wrong, we’ve got Zeb back there screaming and it’s like ‘Oh, wow. We haven’t heard that before.’ ”
Noland estimates there are roughly 8 seconds for a conversation to occur in a huddle. Calling a play only takes a semblance of that. The rest of the short-lived congregation in the center of the football field can be used to direct a receiver on a route or speak with an offensive lineman about protections.
Through two weeks of practices, Noland, by all accounts, has been efficient. Head coach Shane Beamer reminded reporters on Tuesday’s Southeastern Conference teleconference that Noland went 4 for 4 on his first few throws as a player. Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield — who has a competitive streak of his own — has praised Noland’s ability to control the huddle and operate as a field general once under center.
“From the moment he stepped out there — the first blitz pick up, the two minute (drill) that he did — he executed our offense and made sure that we were playing with the right tempo, getting guys lined up and getting the ball where it needed to be,” Satterfield said Tuesday.
Combining Satterfield’s intensity and Noland’s fire, South Carolina has created a feisty pair to lead it’s offense into Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Illinois.
Satterfield has been known to yell from time to time on the fields behind the Long Family Football Operations Center. But Noland hasn’t taken his chewing outs personally. He simply relays the message hidden underneath.
“For me, (Satterfield) can say whatever he wants,” Noland explained. “He can cuss me up and down, give me the works and I’m just gonna say ‘Yes, sir’ and look at him ... But if a guy misses the ball and gets stressed out I’m going to go ‘Hey, I’m going to throw you the next one and that’s because I trust you. Don’t worry about it.’”
Noland has been praised for his workmanlike demeanor under the most absurd of circumstances in transitioning from graduate assistant to player. He’s also been lauded for his maturity in handling his status as an overnight celebrity. (See ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt featuring a nod to Noland on SportsCenter on Wednesday night as evidence.)
Reporters have been shuttered out from practice for the bulk of the time that Noland has taken the reins of the offense. Saturday, though, the former North Dakota State and Iowa State quarterback’s fire, passion and command of the huddle will be on display for the tens of thousands on hand at Williams-Brice Stadium and on television sets around the Southeast.
“I don’t think you can get more fiery (than Zeb),” Sanders added. “Sometimes he worried me a little bit. He’s definitely not a guy that’s going to take any crap, that’s for sure.”
