‘Gonna cherish this moment forever.’ Inside Jason Brown’s big day in win over Florida
The night before South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer sent his previously third-string quarterback into battle against Florida, he gathered the Gamecocks for a team meeting.
Around Columbia, the SEC and the country, quarterback Jason Brown entered the weekend as an unknown, a senior transfer from FCS school St. Francis in Pennsylvania. But Beamer wanted his players to realize that Brown had pedigree, that he’d be able to handle the seismic moment in front of him — his first career start in the SEC.
In that Friday night meeting, Beamer read off the results from Brown’s first collegiate start at St. Francis: a program-record 293 yards in his debut, two touchdowns and conference offensive player of the week honors.
“It kind of caught me off guard a little bit, like ‘Oh, he’s bringing out some St. Francis stuff,’ ” Brown said a day later, laughing. “That just shows he had confidence in me going into the game tonight.”
Beamer said he was optimistic about Brown, but not even he could’ve predicted the level of mastery Brown showed over the USC offense on Saturday. With first-string quarterback Luke Doty out for the season and second-stringer Zeb Noland recovering from knee surgery, Brown stepped into the starting role and helped lead the Gamecocks to a surprisingly lopsided 40-17 win over the Gators.
Not only did the Gamecocks win, but they scored the most points they’ve scored since their 46-0 win over Eastern Illinois, and their 459 yards of total offense was a season high.
Brown benefited from an explosive ground game that produced 284 rushing yards, but the quarterback also flashed his arm strength and playmaking ability, escaping pressure from the Florida defense and keeping his sights down the field — and showing guts while the game was still close.
Up just 13-10 at the start of the second quarter, Brown spun away from a collapsing pocket, scrambled free and heaved a 50-yard jump ball in the direction of top target Josh Vann, setting up a 24-yard touchdown to Vann just moments later. From that moment, the Gamecocks continued to pull away.
“When I went out and hit Josh on that deep ball going across the middle, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this thing,’ “ Brown said. “And we just never took our foot off the pedal.”
Watching from home Saturday, Brown’s former St. Francis teammate Bear Fenimore couldn’t help but see shades of Brown’s days with the Red Flash when he made that throw. Fenimore was the incumbent starter at quarterback when Brown enrolled. He remembers seeing the way Brown would attack practice and how, when he finally did see the field, he’d use his quickness and signature spin move to work out of trouble.
“He’s doing great, has a live arm and his ability to extend plays is awesome,” Fenimore told The State via text. “The reverse spin-out should be trademarked in his name. ... He’s showing great poise.”
Brown finished with two touchdowns on 14-of-24 passing, and while his 175 passing yards might seem modest, the Gamecocks leaned heavily on their running game in the second half to milk the game away.
After the game, Beamer said he pointed to Brown as an example for the rest of the team, from the way he handled losing the quarterback competition in the preseason to how he’s carried himself throughout practice in the weeks said. After Brown arrived in the spring, the coaching staff told him he needed to lose weight, and Beamer said he’d often look out the window at 5 p.m. during the summer and see Brown running by himself on the USC practice field.
Even during the game Saturday, Brown came up to Beamer a few times, asking him, “Are you good?” and checking in on the head coach as though their roles were reversed, an indication of Brown’s maturity and levelheadedness.
“I can’t even put into words how I feel right now,” Brown said. “It’s just an unreal feeling. Just think about it: I was a third-team guy for a while, and I just kept preparing as though I was the starter.
“Just being able to come in and lead us to a victory tonight is something special, and I’m gonna cherish this moment forever.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
