BIRMINGHAM—Football is a developmental game. It’s something head coach Will Muschamp has said since he took the job at South Carolina. He preaches young players getting repetitions in practice to learn the game, so the added bowl practices were well received by the coaching staff.

As the Gamecocks finish their last practice of the season Wednesday at Legion Field before today’s Birmingham Bowl, the head coach was pleased with how his team came out of what he called ”bowl camp.”

“We've got a very young football team, especially on the offensive side of the ball in terms of the production we’ve had from young players has been outstanding,” he said in Wednesday’s pregame press conference. “For us to get these extra practices has been huge for us.”

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He’s been mostly pleased with how true freshmen quarterbacks Jake Bentley and Brandon McIlwain have improved since practice started Dec. 15.

Bentley and McIlwain combined for nine starts this season with 1,630 passing yards and eight touchdowns. Bentley started his career 4-1 but left the Clemson game with an injured right knee after going 7-for-17 with 41 yards. McIlwain replaced him in the second half and went 6-for-11 for 33 yards.

Muschamp said both players had good postseason practices and Bentley is prepared to start today.

“(Bentley) had a really good bowl prep. I think young players, the game continues to slow down for them the more reps they get,” Muschamp said. “The game continues to slow down for him as well as some others. I thought Brandon McIlwain had a really good bowl camp as well.”

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He said the coaching staff “got out of the way” and let the signal callers play during practice. They practiced situational drills as well. In practice at Birmingham Southern Bentley and McIlwain took reps with the first and second teams, respectively.

The team had four practices focused on fundamentals before installing the game plan.

McIlwain started three of the first six games of the season, but Bentley was named the starting quarterback coming out of the Gamecocks’ bye week and has started the last six games.

Both have had growing pains. McIlwain didn’t throw for more than 200 yards in a game and the offense had problems moving the ball. Bentley and the offense sputtered against Florida and Clemson, two top-10 defense nationally.

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Muschamp said it’s hard to play quarterback in the SEC, especially as a true freshman and thinks both quarterbacks have bright futures at South Carolina.

“What’s not hard about it? There’s a lot that’s hard. It’s very difficult to do. Obviously earning the respect of your teammates is the first thing to be that guy. Regardless of if he is or not, the quarterback is a leader,” Muschamp said. “Both of those guys have handle their situations extremely well. They’re both mature beyond their years. They both have the ‘it’ factor. They both can make a difference for our program.”