Why South Carolina didn’t turn to any QBs beyond Luke Doty in Vandy loss
When South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers went down against Vanderbilt, it was no surprise that backup Luke Doty trotted in and assumed his role at QB.
Doty is the Gamecocks’ backup. Starter goes down. Backup comes in. No big deal.
But then Doty stayed in for the remainder of game — despite not leading the team to a single point in USC’s 31-7 loss to Vandy.
With Doty in at quarterback, here are how South Carolina’s drives ended: Missed field goal. Punt. Turnover on downs. Turnover on downs. Fumble. Fumble. Interception.
“(Luke) did some really good stuff managing the offense, making calls, directing traffic, making throws,” USC coach Shane Beamer said on Sunday.
It should be said: There were solid moments. Doty finished the game completing 18 of 27 passes (67%) for 148 yards. And five of those seven drives got past midfield before stalling out.
But, as the game got out of hand, it was hard not to wonder: Why not play third-string QB Air Noland or true freshman Cutter Woods?
Beamer, during his Sunday teleconference with reporters, said he had conversations with offensive coordinator Mike Shula about potentially putting either Noland or Woods in the game.
“Not necessarily because Luke was playing bad, but just to get some other guys experience,” Beamer said. “But we didn’t.”
Based on Beamer’s answer, it sounds like he and Shula were talking before USC’s second-to-last drive, when the game was basically out of reach and Vanderbilt was up 31-7 with just over five minutes to play.
Beamer was still hoping for a miracle.
“I was confident that we were going to go down the field,” Beamer said, “score a touchdown, get the two-point conversion and make it a two-score game.”
Beamer continued: “(I) really felt confident about us being able to win the game in the fourth quarter, and felt like Luke gave us the best opportunity to do that as we got into the fourth quarter.”
As for Noland and Woods playing?
“Yes, we did discuss it briefly,” Beamer said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2025 at 6:32 PM.
