Satterfield talks Joyner QB package, play call from Saturday

Ask Marcus Satterfield in August and his answer would have been vastly different.

Preparing and installing his offense during fall camp, one of the staples at quarterback was Dakereon Joyner in a specialized package, one more weapon in the Gamecocks’ arsenal.

But, halfway through the season, it hasn’t gone as expected.

“I don’t think I’ve gotten as much as I wanted to going into the season,” Satterfield said. “It went from we were going to have him ready to play quarterback in and out and I’ve turned it into more of a situational type deal with him. I thought I would have used that more and it ended up I didn’t.”

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Joyner’s played 191 offensive snaps this season with just seven of those (3.7 percent) coming at quarterback.

The talk in camp was Joyner was going to be used as an offensive weapon in Satterfield’s toolbox and it’s been tough sledding for the Gamecocks with him.

Joyner’s rushed just six times for 10 yards, an average of 1..7 yards per carry, with his longest rush going for six yards.

One of the biggest issues came when presumed starter Luke Doty went down with a foot injury and the Gamecocks had to expedite Zeb Noland’s development and reps in practice, putting Joyner’s package on the backburner.

“Obviously when you have a young quarterback like Luke, you’re maximizing his reps. Then when Zeb came on board you had to get him ready. That pushed the Dakereon quarterback position not to the side but it lessened the amount of reps we could get him during practice,” Satterfield said. “I’m not disappointed but I would have envisioned three months ago him having more of a quarterback feel for this offense but it didn’t work out that way.”

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The struggles were typified in Saturday’s loss to Tennessee with Satterfield dialing up a run-pass option for Joyner, at quarterback, that was blown up for a loss of one and setting up Jordan Burch’s interception the following play.

“We showed the week before Dakereon in the same formation. We’d been working that since the spring. It was a run-pass deal. They got on him,” Satterfield said. “It’s hard to replicate. It’s not fair to DK because we’ve never been able to replicate that speed in practice because we’re not going to hit him. They got on him quick before he could get the ball out. He ended up getting hit right there at the line of scrimmage.”

The thinking of having Joyner, a four-star prospect at quarterback coming out of high school, back there makes sense.

With him back there the Gamecocks are typically pairing him with either multiple running backs or a running back and multiple tight ends, similar to what the Baltimore Ravens do with Lamar Jackson and their stable of backs and tight ends.

On the play Saturday the Gamecocks were in 12 personnel—a running back, wide receiver and two tight ends—with Nick Muse and Jaheim Bell lined up in the backfield and MarShawn Lloyd offset of the quarterback.

EJ Jenkins was split out wide, running a fade route.

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“Just trying to get roles for those guys. It’s a different body. It’s not a tight end or receiver. The defense has to account for them a little differently,” Satterfield said. “They all have a skill set whether they’re catching the ball, they can run the ball, they can block. It allows you to be multiple when multiple running backs are in the game."

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