Will Muschamp is faced with many questions as he heads into his first fall camp as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Headlining the questions Muschamp will be faced with is which quarterback will be under center when the Gamecocks face Vanderbilt on September 1st to start the regular season?
With so many contenders, the Gamecock QB battle is as crowded as it has been in quite a while. Here’s the rundown of each quarterback and his chances of starting.
Perry Orth, the returning starter, is definitely in the driver’s seat right now. But don’t write him in at the top of the depth chart yet, because his abysmal 1-7 record as the starting quarterback doesn’t allow Muschamp to put a whole lot of confidence in him.
From working in a local grocery store to joining the University of South Carolina’s football team as a walk-on to starting regular season games against SEC opponents, Orth has had an incredible journey. He threw for close to 2,000 yards and was the instigator of 12 touchdowns during his 8 games as a starter.
Consistency and accuracy are the biggest question marks surrounding Orth, however. A 55% completion rating is far from spectacular, and 9 interceptions (over 1 pick per game) is a little much.
New offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and new head coach Will Muschamp have to love Orth’s
work ethic and maturity. Despite not being the most outstanding athlete among the quarterbacks, he’s definitely the veteran presence who will keep his cool and set an example off the field.
Jake Bentley
Bentley, son of Carolina great Bobby Bentley, is the highest rated QB to ever commit to the University of South Carolina. He’s an exciting young player with potential that goes through the roof. However, he is young (he actually left high school a year early) and should be expected to go through some growing pains in his first season as a collegiate football player.
Standing at 6’5″, Bentley has a cannon for an arm and can hit receivers no matter where they are on the field. There’s no doubt he’s in the thick of this quarterback battle, but if I’m going to be realistic, he’s not going to be starting or seeing many reps on the field once the season starts.
He will benefit from playing behind a leader like Orth and an athlete like McIlwain and has a bright future ahead of him.
Nunez is not in the final three, but his versatility demands that he be talked about. He saw some quality playing time last season after Connor Mitch went down with an injury which greatly helped him grow as a player.
Nunez will likely only see the field for trick plays. Jet sweeps, wildcat formation, goal-line packages, and short-yardage situations will be the time for Nunez to shine.
Brandon McIlwain
McIlwain is hot on Orth’s heels in this race to the top of the depth chart. During spring practice, most of the first-string reps went to McIlwain. He has a firm grasp of the playbook and his receiver’s tendencies. He’s a flashy player who is extremely mobile but also boasts an impressively strong arm.
He’s going to see the field plenty during this upcoming season. There’s no doubt. The only question is how much playing time will he get?
Best-case scenario: Bentley gets redshirted and gets that extra year of eligibility. Orth starts game one of the regular season but McIlwain is very much involved and the two split playing time. Like I mentioned earlier, Nunez will only see the field for short-yardage situations.
Worst-case scenario: Aside from the injury bug striking, the worst-case scenario is that Orth’s turnover-committing ways continue and McIlwain can’t produce quality as his backup. Bentley, who isn’t redshirted, can’t be relied on to perform because of his inexperience.