Published Oct 24, 2020
Muschamp discusses Hill, backup quarterbacks
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Collyn Taylor  •  GamecockScoop
Beat Writer
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@collyntaylor

It was a night to forget for South Carolina in the Bayou, especially for starting quarterback Collin Hill.

Hill put up some decent numbers but quarterbacked a team that mustered 24 points, tying a season-low, and struggled to get much consistency going offensively in a 52-24 blowout loss to LSU.

After the game, when asked about Hill’s play and whether or not he thought about playing either Ryan Hilinski or Luke Doty, Muschamp focused on Hill’s play.

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“No, we feel like he forced the ball on the interception a little bit. He was accurate with the ball and held it a few too many times and created some sacks,” Muschamp said. “We need to go back and look at the film before we start determining how the guy played. We hit some vertical balls down the field and had some explosive plays. Just disappointed overall not playing well on the defensive side of the ball.”

Also see: What Will Muschamp said postgame

Hill finished going 12-for-22 in a largely all-or-nothing type of game for the Gamecocks offensively. The plays South Carolina did connect on went for big gains, but the offense struggled to find the end zone.

The grad transfer averaged 10.6 yards per carry and a rating of 149.8 but threw a pick six and held on to the ball too long at times, resulting in five sacks Saturday night.

“It wasn’t all on the offensive line. We held the ball too long at times,” he said. “We had a few busted routes. We’ll go back and evaluate the film on where the pressure was from. We ran the ball extremely well in the game.”

Hill played almost all 51 of South Carolina’s snaps with no other player on the team throwing a pass. Third-string quarterback Luke Doty did get in, rushing one time for six yards, but didn’t do anything after that.

Backup Ryan Hilinski didn’t play.

When asked what would need to happen in a game for a potential quarterback switch, Muschamp said that typically falls on the offensive coordinator and what he wants to do during the flow of a game.

Also see: Instant analysis from Saturday's loss

“Well Mike (Bobo) and I will have conversations on the headsets about what he wants to do at the quarterback position,” he said. “That’s why I hired him and we’ll have that discussion when it’s appropriate.”

The Gamecocks’ offense wasn’t great in Saturday’s loss, but the defense gave up 52 points—the most in a SEC game since Muschamp took over—and ended up allowing true freshman TJ Finley to throw for 265 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start.

South Carolina is off next week before hosting Texas A&M on Nov. 7.