SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

It’d be hard to say Ryan Hilinski hasn’t had a great start at South Carolina with the freshman coming in for injured Jake Bentley and playing pretty well through his first eight quarters.

He led the way to a record-setting performance against Charleston Southern and seemed unfazed by the moment playing No. 2 Alabama, but both of those games have been at home.

Now the Gamecocks’ freshman is getting ready to make his first road start this weekend at Missouri, something he hasn’t experienced yet in his college career.

“It’s always a concern. It comes back to what we talked about the first two weeks: what does Ryan feel comfortable with?” Will Muschamp said. “Let’s make sure we get him in situations he feels comfortable with.”

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Hilinksi’s looked really good in his first two starts, becoming one of just two freshmen quarterbacks to throw for 300 yards in a game—Jake Bentley and Todd Ellis were the others—and operating the offense at a high level.

But, this will be his first test where it’ll be loud when he’s out on the field. The Gamecocks practice with crowd noise already in practice but it’s a little different once a young quarterback gets into a game atmosphere.

“I think you definitely have to speak up a little more,” Dakereon Joyner said. “There’s a little more detail in terms of listening. It can be challenging for some people but you have to be locked in and ready to go.”

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The Gamecocks have handed their keys over to Hilinski and have not been afraid to let him sling it; he finished with the second-most attempts in a single game with 57 and completed 36 passes, third-most in a single game at South Carolina.

It might take a little extra preparation for the noise level in Columbia, Missouri this weekend but Muschamp said there’s really no plan to scale back going away from home.

“We’ve taken a lot into both games with him because he’s able to handle a lot,” he said. “That’s in my notes walking off the field: make sure we know it’s his first start. That’s something we’ll talk about this afternoon with our offensive staff.”

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Hilinski is coming off a week where he threw for 324 yards against Alabama with two touchdowns and an interception.

It was good enough to earn him SEC Freshman of the Week Honors, the first of potentially many more over his career.

“That’s a big deal,” Nick Muse said. “The SEC is the best ball you can get basically—that and the ACC—player of the week is player of the week. He did his job.”

Hilinski came in on short notice for Jake Bentley, who’s now out for the season after season-ending foot surgery, and is averaging 303 yards and two touchdowns in two starts.

Through two games, he’s on pace to complete 69 percent of his passes for 3,333 yards and 22 touchdowns this season.

“I’m very impressed,” Jay Urich said. “I think he’s a good guy off the field and it translates well on the field. I was always confident in him and that confidence has grown.”