Spring practice is fully underway for South Carolina, and coach Shane Beamer believes the last two weeks could not have gone much better as his program continues to gain momentum in his second season.
“It was even more intense [Tuesday] than Saturday,” Beamer said of the Gamecocks’ first two practices in pads. “There’s intensity, physicality, our guys have been practicing with great energy all four days.”
Beamer enters a monumental season as he looks to build on a 7-6 campaign and take this team to what has the potential to be a breakout 2022 season and a major building block for a program on the rise.
Today, as we are continuing our spring football coverage by diving into a position group that will make or break the success of offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s unit: Quarterbacks.
Catch up on the rest of our spring practice breakdowns here:
No introduction needed
Beamer and Satterfield have not yet officially named a starting quarterback, but we’re all adults here. Spencer Rattler has been firmly entrenched as QB1 since the day he transferred to South Carolina from Oklahoma.
If you watch Tuesday’s press conference, Beamer’s body language and the way he worded his response when asked if the No. 1 quarterback had been established yet told us what we needed to know: “[Rattler] has been taking all the reps with the 1s. … It is what it is.”
Rattler will soon be named QB1 either in the spring or summer, and that’s when the fun begins. We know what’s at stake in both the short- and long-term for this program behind Rattler.
We talked about this before at Gamecock Scoop: There are high expectations for Rattler in Columbia. But he doesn’t have to come out and be the absolute star that he was during his second season in Norman when he finished with more than 3,000 yards and a 28:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio and completed 67.5 percent of his passes (214 of 317).
Rattler had a down season last fall, finishing 140 of 187 (74.9 completion percentage) for 1,483 yards and 11 touchdowns to five interceptions in just nine games. There are other varying factors at play here, but just for the fun of it:
Take Rattler’s average yards per game and touchdowns per game from last season and multiply it by three (for the extra three games in which he didn’t play so that we get to a total of 12 games).
Then, add those numbers in yards and touchdowns to what he finished with last season. The stats would approach the South Carolina quarterbacks’ single-season top-10 marks in passing yards and passing touchdowns in program history:
–1,977 passing yards would be about 500 yards shy of No. 10 on the list: Steve Taneyhill (2,486 yards in 1994)
– 15 touchdowns (rounded up) would finish just two shy of a three-way tie for No. 10 with Connor Shaw (2012), Stephen Garcia (2009) and Blake Mitchell (2005).
Obviously, there are bigger expectations than for Rattler to have that type of season. But the point is that even an average season for him would still be a positive.
However!
If Rattler can get anywhere close to what he did as a redshirt freshman, that’s when things get really fun. This is a monumental, potential cornerstone season for Beamer and Co.
If the Gamecocks can parlay last year’s surprise seven-win season into an 8-4 or 9-3 regular-season mark, that’s when a takeoff really feels within reach. That’s when they would be able to more likely bring in the blue-chip quarterbacks that are ranked as high four-star prospects to lead the program at the sport’s most important position.
Rattler is at the crux of it all, and recruits from all over the country are watching. If he develops in the way that Beamer and Satterfield envision, it changes everything.
Doty pushing to return
Luke Doty suffered a foot fracture and ligament damage four games into last season that required foot surgery.
Thus far, he is not yet fully cleared and back to being 100 percent, Beamer said on Tuesday.
Rattler is the no-doubt, no-need-to-debate-it starting quarterback. Especially with Doty unable to give him a full run while he works his way back. But Doty returning to full health is still critical for this program.
Quarterback is the most important position in team sports, after all, and if Rattler goes down, the Gamecocks will need a dependable, reliable veteran under center to take the reins.
Young guns
Redshirt freshman Colten Gauthier and true freshman Braden Davis are the two other top quarterbacks working through spring ball, and Tanner Bailey is set to arrive on campus in the summer.
Beamer said that Davis has “huge upside” during his National Signing Day press conference during December’s early signing period. With good size at 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, Davis was a three-star prospect and the top-ranked player in the 2022 class out of Delaware.
For him to get on campus as an early enrollee is critical for his development. It won’t give him an edge in the short term to supplant Rattler or Doty, but it could help him get a head start over the other quarterback signee in his class.
Bailey was a four-star signee out of Alabama who is one of the highest-ranked quarterbacks the Gamecocks have signed. He is not enrolling until June in order to play his final season of baseball, so he will get acclimated to the speed of the game game, playbook, hand signals and calls about six months later than Davis.
