Timeline leading to Zeb Noland being named starting quarterback for South Carolina Gamecocks football

Zeb Noland—the graduate assistant turned active player turned starter—will take the field with the offense Saturday in South Carolina's season opener against the Panthers (7 p.m., ESPN Plus).

It's been a wild ride for Noland, who enrolled in college with the 2016 class, and the last few weeks after Luke Doty's injury so it'd be smart to take a look back at how all of this happened.

2016-2018: Noland came out of Oconee County High school where he was Region 8AAA Player of the Year and began his career at Iowa State. He redshirted in 2016 before playing in nine games over two seasons in Ames.

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He'd complete 60.2 percent of his passes (176 attempts) and average 7.1 yards per attempt with six touchdowns to two interceptions. His season highs came in 2017 for yards per attempt (8.1) and quarterback rating (129.4) but 2018 for total yards (722), completion percentage (63.6) and touchdowns (4).

2019-2021: Noland transferred to perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State in 2019 but didn't see the field much in 2019, playing behind future No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance.

He'd play in eight games in 2019, completing nine of his 14 attempts for 120 yards (8.6 yards per attempt) with a touchdown.

With Lance not there in 2020, Noland started seven games for the Bison, completing 51 percent of his passes for 721 yards (7.2 yards per attempt) with five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Noland's playing career seemingly ended on May 2 with a loss in the FCS playoffs at Sam Houston State.

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Summer 2021: Noland arrives in Columbia as an graduate assistant working with Justin Stepp and South Carolina's receivers. He also spent time with offensive analyst Nick Coleman to help design the playbook.

Aug. 13, 2021: Presumed starter Luke Doty gets stepped on in practice and suffers a mild foot sprain that will sideline him for a few weeks in the preseason and potentially keep him out a few weeks of the season. Shane Beamer says after the Gamecocks' Saturday scrimmage they don't think the injury was season ending and Doty will return at some point during the 2021 season.

With Doty's injury, the Gamecocks were down to two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster with another in walk-on Connor Jordan.

Aug. 17, 2021: During an open portion of practice, Noland could be seen wearing No. 25 and practicing with the quarterbacks. After the team's practice, Beamer came into the media room and said the Gamecocks had been exploring the option of bringing Noland—who had one year of eligibility left—on for depth purposes and will give him the opportunity to earn playing time, if he earns it.

Aug. 21, 2021: South Carolina scrimmaged for the second time in preseason camp where Noland took first team reps and the possibility of him being the season-opening starter, if Doty couldn't play, became even likelier.

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Aug. 24-25, 2021: Beamer and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield both say the starting quarterback position battle was coming to an end and the Gamecocks would name QB1 sooner rather than later. The position seemed to come down between Noland and Jason Brown and both Beamer and Satterfield mentioned knowledge of the offense, executing in and out of the huddle and during the play plus accuracy will be some of the biggest evaluation tools when deciding a quarterback.

Aug. 31, 2021: Noland is listed as the Gamecocks' starting quarterback on the team's depth chart with Brown the backup. No other quarterback was listed on the two-deep depth chart.

Shane Beamer will meet with the media Tuesday around 1:15 p.m. with Marcus Satterfield scheduled to meet with reporters Wednesday a little after noon. Both Zeb Noland and Jason Brown have class conflicts so neither will be available to the media Tuesday but South Carolina will "effort to make them available on Wednesday following the coordinators."

The Goings Law Firm will serve as the official sponsor of our 2021 Football Coverage. The attorneys at the Goings Law Firm are proud South Carolinians and avid Gamecock fans. The Goings Law Firm has earned a reputation as one of the preeminent litigation firms in South Carolina in the fields of personal injury, wrongful death, and workers compensation.

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