SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
In the transfer portal era of college football, it would have been hard to blame Dakereon Joyner if he had left the South Carolina football program in search of playing time when he wasn't named the No. 2 quarterback at the end of preseason camp.
Instead of making the quick move, the redshirt freshman Fort Dorchester graduate chose to stick it out and take on a Swiss Army Knife role in the Gamecocks' offense.
"I'm a very positive guy, man," Joyner said Tuesday. "I feel like everything happens for a reason. I'm just here to be the best teammate possible. I'm here to play the best role. Whatever my coaches want me to do, then that's what I'm going to do. If that's me being versatile, then it is what it is. I just want to help the team."
Joyner made his debut at wide receiver Saturday against North Carolina, playing 16 snaps while making catches on both of his targets.
"It was fun," he says. "It was really fun getting out there and seeing it from a different perspective and competing with the guys on the edge. It was really fun."
But with a foot injury to Jake Bentley that will keep the senior quarterback out for at least six weeks, and could sideline him for the season, Joyner is now also the team's No. 2 quarterback.
"Ryan (Hilinski) will be the starter [at quarterback]; Dakereon will play," Muschamp said. "Dakereon's role really hasn't changed since over a week and a half ago. He's still going to play some quarterback snaps and we've got some things that he'll do there. He also will continue to play wide out."
With a smooth debut at wide out and a possible greater need for him at quarterback, Joyner's role should only expand going forward and Muschamp has no worries about him playing both positions.
"Mentally he's fine," Muschamp said. "He'll handle it all. He's very bright, very intelligent. He really has embraced the role and we're excited about it."
It's a role that at one time seemed unlikely to happen. Joyner joined the program in the spring of 2018 as a four-star quarterback after finishing with just shy of 10,000 yards passing in his high school career.
Joyner, who accounted for over 3,400 yards of offense and 52 total touchdowns as a senior, was recruited as a quarterback and reminded everyone of that fact this past spring when he said that was the position he was in Columbia to play.
But since Hilinski was named the No. 2 quarterback, the staff has looked for various ways to get Joyner the football this season, while also using him in his No. 3 -- and now No. 2 -- quarterback role.
"Everybody thinks different, so I don't have a message for those guys [that transferred], but I know what I'm here to do, and I know I'm here to be a team guy," Joyner said. "And be the best person possible for me, not just for me, but for my team."
Joyner appears happy and relaxed with his decision and his new role, one that could expand as the year progresses.
Said Muschamp: "The thing I can tell you about Dakereon, I know he loves the University of South Carolina. He loves being here. He loves his teammates; his teammates love him. I appreciate his character and I appreciate his perseverance through a very difficult time, a difficult decision for everybody.
"I told him, 'Just trust us, and we'll move forward in the right direction and do what's best for you and the team moving forward and let's give this thing a fall (season)' He's been nothing but great, but that's who he is, that's how he's been raised. That's the type person he is."
