‘Q’ at QB: Race begins for Gamecocks’ starting spot

It’s here. The question that has loomed since Dec. 27 hovers as South Carolina begins preseason camp.

It’s no closer to being answered than it was then, as Dylan Thompson finished his career with a bowl win. After knowing the next quarterback during every year of his tenure, Steve Spurrier starts his 11^th season with a TBA as QB1.

“We don’t know who’s going to play there yet. We think they’re all pretty good players,” Spurrier said last week. “We’ll be practicing four for a while, then we’ll sort of slim down to two of them getting most of the snaps.”

While Connor Mitch is the presumed starter (he’s listed first on the preseason depth chart), Spurrier has made it clear that the job has not been decided. Perry Orth, Michael Scarnecchia and Lorenzo Nunez will compete over the first week or two before Spurrier picks a No. 1 and No. 2 to take the majority of the reps.

It’s the most wide-open race Spurrier has had at USC. Before, there were always options – only three times (and two quarterbacks) has the Gamecocks’ signal-caller started an entire season. There hasn’t been this level of unknown since Spurrier took over in 2005.

The most experienced passer? Wide receiver Pharoh Cooper, who has thrown two more balls (11) than Mitch and Orth combined. Scarnecchia and Nunez have yet to play. Each of this year’s candidates had solid springs and summers, but the starter is as anonymous as he was last year, when the question “Who plays if Thompson gets hurt?” never had to be answered.

The solution begins to be deciphered at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“Ohio State had three of them that all evidently knew what to do,” quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus said. “We have a roomful of guys who all know what to do.”

Orth is the oldest, although he and Mitch have been at USC the same amount of time. Scarnecchia’s had a year to learn; Nunez has had a summer.

Mangus likes all of them.

“Connor had a good spring. He was where we expected him to be in the spring,” Mangus said. “Perry’s older as well. He knows where to go with the ball, he knows the offense, he knows what we should be in based on what the defense is in.”

The two freshmen shouldn’t be discounted due to their inexperience. Scarnecchia’s 6-foot-4 frame and equal number of reps in the spring put him in the competition, and Nunez’s ability as a dual threat logged nearly 1,200 rushing yards as a high school senior.

“Every kid, you can sit there and say, ‘They have the ability,’” Mangus said. “Obviously they have the ability, we think, or (Nunez) wouldn’t be here. But they still have to go out there and perform. They haven’t done it with the lights on.”

Mangus echoed Spurrier – all will get a chance for half the camp, then USC will pick two and start preparing them more than the others. All four know it and are prepared to work for two spots.

“It’s a lot to learn and some guys plan on playing. and then. all of a sudden, it gets closer to the game and they want to redshirt. And sometimes they want to go play from the get-go, like Connor Shaw did,” Mangus said. “They all had some pretty good stats in the spring. We look forward to them battling it out in the first couple of weeks.”