Published Nov 3, 2021
Gamecocks won't announce QB starter prior to Saturday
Wes Mitchell  •  GamecockScoop
Football/Recruiting Insider
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@WesMitchellGC

Shane Beamer said Wednesday during the SEC Teleconference that the Gamecocks won't name a starting quarterback ahead of Saturday's matchup with Florida, citing that there was no advantage to such an announcement.

Moments after Beamer said that, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield spoke about the current ongoing quarterback competition during his weekly press conference.

"It's been a good week for them, just from a standpoint of they're all competing," Satterfield said. "We always want to compete, but they're literally all competing to see who's going to jog out there first on Saturday night."

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Zeb Noland continues to work his way back from a knee injury as the staff has gradually increased his workload each practice this week after the super senior QB had surgery to repair his meniscus late last week.

Jason Brown played in the second half of the Gamecocks' 44-14 loss to Texas A&M and is in the running to potentially get his first start with the Gamecocks.

Satterfield said that freshman Colten Gauthier is also in the mix and has been taking reps with the Carolina offense as opposed to the scout team this week.

"Zeb's a little banged up and each day we've kind of raised his workload, kept him in the evaluation process," Satterfield said. "JB and Colten, those guys are battling it out in practice and doing a nice job. It's been a great week for them just from preparation and getting more reps than they usually do.

"Again, we're not going to reveal any information of who's going to play right now, but they've all gotten better, which was huge coming off an off week too when they got a lot of reps, especially Colten, to see his jump from being a scout team guy to really entrenching himself in a game plan."

Satterfield didn't rule out the possibility of multiple quarterbacks getting in the game Saturday.

"I can definitely see where there could possibly be two quarterbacks going into this week," Satterfield said. "They've all earned the right. You're always protecting Colten just from a standpoint of redshirting and things of that nature, but I could definitely see a situation where two guys could be out there at some point."

Before this past week's bye, Noland started against Texas A&M and completed 7 of 12 passes for 30 yards before exiting the game with Brown in his place.

Brown completed 8 of 14 passes for 84 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions as he led the team on two late touchdown drives in the 44-14 rout.

Both Beamer and Satterfield have expressed confidence in Brown, who adds an extra dynamic of athleticism to the position, if he ends up getting the start.

"He is a natural leader, a natural quarterback, and even when he wasn't playing he had that intangible," Satterfield said. "He'd shoot me a random text or just things he would say on the sideline or in the locker room or how he is in the meeting room or how he would prepare. He's always had that. He's kept his head down and worked and I think that he sees an opportunity. I think he got a little taste of it at Texas A&M in the fourth quarter and had some success and I think he sees an opportunity possibly to go out there and show what he can do."

The Gamecocks and Gators are set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium on SEC Network.

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