Quarterback plan remains the same
Perry Orth's second-half performance in South Carolina's 13-10 victory over Vanderbilt puts the senior quarterback on pace to start at Mississippi State this weekend, but the season-long plan at the position remains fluid.
"We'll see how practice goes but obviously with the job Perry did was outstanding and him coming in in the second half," Muschamp said Sunday night during his teleconference. "Obviously, both guys are going to play. Right now, Perry would start the game, but Brandon (McIlwain's) going to play."
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Orth, who started the season opener and completed 11 of 19 passes for 152 yards, led the Gamecocks to 13 straight second-half points to erase a 10-0 deficit and a 1-0 start to the season. Most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.
"At halftime that was the discussion (offensive coordinator) Kurt (Roper) and I had, about taking care of the ball," Muschamp said. "It was a field position game, we were still in the ball game, and we knew that our guys were going to come out of the funk, that all of our issues were correctable. That was the exciting part watching the tape, a lot of very correctable things. Offensively, we're going to continue to improve throughout the year."
The plan throughout the year still heavily involves McIlwain, who completed 5 of 11 passes for 35 yards and also rushed for 29 yards on seven carries.
The true freshman brought a spark to the offense in the first half, but saw his most promising drive end in a fumble and also nearly fumbled a second time but his knee was on the ground before the ball popped out.
"When Brandon was in the game, we moved the ball extremely well, we've just got to take care of the football and that's the bottom line," Muschamp said. "At the end of the day the guy's a competitor. He's going to help our team win this year, this week, and those are things we've just got to work on. He's got a great attitude about it and he's going to help our football team."
Muschamp says that fellow true freshman Jake Bentley, who did not play in Nashville, is still in the conversation at quarterback. He continues to practice with the regular squad rather than the scout team.
"He's still going to rep," Muschamp said. "We have not made any decision about anything. It's a long year. The quarterback position obviously is different, but it is the same as a defensive end in that a guy has got to practice well, and he's got to play well, or we'll make a change. Our guys understand that. Jake is still in that operation."
Bentley will continue to travel with the team, Muschamp says.
