SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
The Gamecocks' season is over and South Carolina is in the market for a new offensive coordinator as the coaching carousel churns.
As Will Muschamp continues his search, it's time to evaluate and take stock of what they have coming back as starters.
First is the most important offensive position, quarterback, where Ryan Hilinski is now preparing for his sophomore season.
Hilinski finished his freshman season starting 11 games, going 236-for-406 (58.1 completion percentage) for 2,357 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
He had to throw it a lot for limited success for a litany of reasons—poor playcalling, execution and everything else around an anemic South Carolina offense the last half of the season—finishing averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and a quarterback rating of 113.4.
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It was one of the more prolific freshmen seasons in school history, finishing with the the eighth-most completions, fourth-most attempts, in a season and is the only Gamecock freshman since 2000 to throw for over 2,300 yards in their first season.
He came up 664 yards short of breaking Todd Ellis's freshman passing record.
Only two quarterbacks since 2000 have thrown for 2,300 yards with at least 10 touchdowns and five or fewer interceptions and Hilinski is one of them.
The other is Connor Shaw in 2013.
Hilinski's almost 2,400 yards were sixth-most among freshman quarterbacks this year and he had the most attempts and second-most completions among first-year quarterbacks.
He was at his best operating in a clean pocket with a 67.5 overall grade according to Pro Football Focus against no pressure. He'd throw nine touchdowns to three interceptions, average six yards an attempt with an 84.5 NFL quarterback rating and a 72.6 adjusted completion percentage.
But, his freshman year was incredibly up and down and there was some bad to go with the good.
It's not all his fault—he was clearly banged up, receivers dropped 30 passes in 2019 and the offensive line struggled to protect him—but inefficient play killed his overall rating.
Since 2000, 21 quarterbacks have thrown 150 passes in a season, and Hilinski's 113.4 rating ranks 20th, ahead of only Dondrial Pinkins's 110.5 in 2003.
Of the 16 freshman quarterbacks with at least 100 drop backs this season, he's eighth in completion percentage, 15th in yards per attempt, tied for seventh with five interceptions and 11th in NFL rating.
He was under pressure a lot this season and struggled against it, finishing throwing two touchdowns to two interceptions against pressure with a quarterback rating of 52.4 and an adjusted completion percentage of 54.4 percent.
He'd average 5.1 yards per attempt and have a PFF grade of 40.3. On throws 20 yards or more down the field he went 8-for-41 and averaged just seven yards per attempt.
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There is reason for optimism, though, as Hilinski gets healthy and ready for his sophomore season.
He'll be at 100 percent next season after going through a knee procedure this offseason and should get better as he gets bigger, faster, stronger and more mature.
There's something to be said about a guy's leadership and moxie when he's willing to put himself what he went through his freshman season and, in a scheme tailored to his skill set, could be incredibly effective.
Which is why the looming offensive coordinator is so important for Hilinski and the future of this offense.
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