South Carolina QB Luke Doty is nearing a return. This is how he can play against ECU
Luke Doty stepped to the podium at the front of South Carolina’s team meeting room on Tuesday with a familiar smile.
There was no boot on Doty’s injured left foot. The scooter he rode into his last press conference on Aug. 17 had also been ditched. Tuesday, Doty wore a pair of black cleats, garnet football pants and a gray USC-logo T-shirt with his name emblazoned on the back between his shoulder blades.
It was as normal an outfit as any player just striding off the practice field might don for a media session. It’s also the most encouraging sign anyone’s seen publicly that Doty might be nearing a return.
“I feel like I’m pretty close,” he said Tuesday. “I did a lot of stuff today in practice and it felt good. It’s been a good recovery and I’ve still got a little ways to go, but I’m definitely getting there and I’m feeling good about it.”
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has been adamant the plan is for Doty to play this week against East Carolina (0-1). Tuesday, Beamer doubled down on his proclamation, telling reporters the expectation is that USC’s former QB1 should be good to go come Saturday in Greenville, North Carolina.
That, of course, comes with a caveat.
“For me it’s one fact: Can he run?” Beamer said of what he needs to see to feel comfortable playing Doty. “Luke can throw the football, don’t get me wrong, but Luke’s a weapon with his feet as well.”
Said Doty: “Definitely being able to run at 100% — that’s something that I want to feel confident in. Like, I said, it’s getting better every single day.”
Doty came to South Carolina as the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the 2020 class. During his time at Myrtle Beach High School he wowed onlookers in the Upstate with wheels that helped him 7,364 all-purpose yards and 83 touchdowns during his prep career.
Last fall, Doty was versatile enough to bounce between quarterback and receiver. When he did latch on at quarterback against Missouri, he flashed the legs that made him such a sought after recruit as he raced to 59 yards on 11 carries in his first lengthy appearance under center.
“It was great seeing that guy just keep fighting, scrambling,” former Gamecock offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson said at the time. “Even when he didn’t see anybody open, he just made something out of nothing, and you know, you can’t ask too much from a freshman, and at the end of the day, he played well.”
Last week Beamer said Doty had transitioned from his boot to tennis shoes and was starting to get comfortable in cleats again. Doty told reporters Tuesday he’s continuing to feel out his comfort running full speed.
While graduate assistant-turned-quarterback Zeb Noland flashed a slight ability to move in the pocket during Saturday’s win over Eastern Illinois — see his 10-yard rush on 3rd and 9 in the first quarter as evidence — he’s not the same kind of mobile that Doty can be when fully healthy.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said as much ahead of the EIU win, noting South Carolina didn’t have to completely rewrite its playbook sans Doty, but his legs are an added bonus in what the Gamecocks can do offensively.
“(Our plans are) going to change a little just because of the mobility that he gave us,” Satterfield said of Doty in mid-August. “You know, he’s a runner and a passer of the football.”
“The one thing (East Carolina) can do is they can run,” Beamer added Tuesday. “And we don’t need anybody out there that can’t get himself out of trouble and run around and move”
With just three days until South Carolina travels to Greenville, Doty watch remains ongoing. Noland proved capable enough, albeit against a poor FCS team in Eastern Illinois, that he can handle things if needed.
Beamer told reporters during his local teleconference Sunday he doesn’t have any plans to announce a starting quarterback ahead of Saturday’s contest. He also reiterated that he won’t stick Doty on the field unless he’s fully healthy.
If Doty can get back to running full speed, South Carolina has a decision to make at quarterback. We may not get that answer, though, until kickoff noon Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
