How South Carolina's preparing for a true freshman quarterback
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
Jake Bentley knows all too well what Sam Howell will be feeling getting ready in the bowels of Bank of America Stadium mid-afternoon Saturday.
Around that time Bentley will be getting ready for his third season opener as the Gamecocks’ starter while Howell is gearing up for his first career start as a freshman, something Bentley went through four years ago.
“It’s nerve-racking for sure. You’re into a new environment and everything’s faster,” Bentley said. “It’s football at the end of the day. That’s what I went back to: I’ve been playing it for a long time so that kind of settles all the nerves out there.”
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Howell earned the Tar Heels’ starting job this preseason as a freshman and will face South Carolina’s now-healthy and veteran defense in his first collegiate start.
It’s hard enough preparing for a team the first game of any season, but it can be doubly as hard trying to game plan for a true freshman who hasn’t taken a meaningful snap on campus yet.
To try and get an idea just of what Howell can bring to the table, the Gamecocks are watching some of North Carolina’s spring game but also going back and breaking down some of Howell’s high school tape before he got to North Carolina.
“It’s the first game of the season. We don’t know these guys; it’s like preparing against any team at the beginning of the season,” JT Ibe said. “He’s a good quarterback and we’ll play well.”
The Gamecocks are trying to make Howell, who will get his first taste of college football outside of a spring game and a handful of scrimmages during preseason camp, as uncomfortable as possible and confuse him defensively.
“You know he’s a freshman so you want to put some pressure on him and not let him get too comfortable for his first start,” TJ Brunson said. “Besides that, we’re just going to go out and play our game.”
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Howell has a lot of history with the Gamecocks, picking up an offer from Will Muschamp and the staff as he turned into a four-star quarterback out of North Carolina.
He has a relationship with Gamecock freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski with both guys Elite 11 quarterbacks in the same recruiting class.
This is similar to what Muschamp had to do at Florida when the Gators played Texas A&M and a quarterback named Johnny Manziel making his first career start, saying it's about looking for a player's tendencies.
Muschamp knows the kind of talent Howell brings to the table—he’s seen it through the recruiting process—and will show him the proper respects once things kick off Saturday.
“We recruited Sam,” Muschamp said. “We think Sam’s a fantastic player and we offered him at South Carolina. He has arm talent, had all kinds of records there in high school and has the ability to run the football. He’s a competitor; he’s a battler and can make all the throws as far as the touch throws. He can zip it. We have a lot of respect for Sam.”