Shane Beamer addresses the possibility of a Luke Doty redshirt

On3 imageby:On3 Staff Report10/04/22

South Carolina was the beneficiary of one of the most high-profile transfers in college football when it welcomed Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler to campus this offseason. That left the future for one quarterback on campus a bit uncertain, and now a month into the season a decision has been made on a potential Luke Doty redshirt.

The junior quarterback, who started six games in 2020 and 2021, will not redshirt.

An NCAA rule allows players to play in up to four games and still retain a redshirt, but the Gamecocks have no plans of sitting Doty for the rest of the campaign now that he’s appeared in four contests.

“Our plan is full speed ahead with him from that standpoint,” coach Shane Beamer said. “Now whether we have packages with Luke to get him in the game or because he’s shown this year that he’s really a weapon with his feet as well, that’s really to be determined on that.”

Doty contributed in a loss to Georgia and wins over Charlotte and South Carolina State. He’s 10-of-14 passing for 146 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, while adding five carries for 63 yards and a score.

Beamer can’t afford to sit him, knowing he’s next up should anything happen to Rattler.

“Luke’s one of our top two quarterbacks right now, so we’re continuing to try to get him ready to play,” Beamer said. “We have a staff meeting every gameday as a staff that we cover a lot of different things, but one of the things we talk about in that meeting is how to play the players and now that you’re at this kind of halfway point that’s one of the things that comes up, ‘OK, we don’t need to put this guy in the game unless it’s an emergency, because we’d love to save those four games,’ or, ‘We’re full speed ahead on this guy.'”

Full speed ahead with Luke Doty redshirt off the table

A handful of players around the country in recent years have opted to intentionally sit out the rest of the season after playing in four games, preserving a season of eligibility by taking the allowable redshirt.

The most prominent example is four-year Boise State starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier, who entered the NCAA transfer portal after a rough start to the season for the Broncos, having played in only four games.

Those are the kind of conversations Beamer, and other college coaches, have more frequently now in the transfer portal era.

“One of our players was in our office right before I came in here and that was one of the discussions we had,” Beamer relayed. “He’s a freshman and he’s playing on a special team right now but he’s not playing as much on offense, defense. And just kind of talking about his role and the four games and all that, as well.”

But Doty?

He sound locked in with South Carolina, according to Beamer.

“Those are things that we discuss, but we’re full speed ahead on Luke,” he said.