Shane Beamer addresses South Carolina's competition within quarterback room
South Carolina is one of a handful of SEC teams that will have to break in a new starting quarterback this fall following the departure of the talented Spencer Rattler for the NFL Draft.
There are a bevy of options, including a pair of transfers.
“I think first of all there’s just great competition in that room because you’ve got a bunch of guys that are all competing and they all believe they can be and should be the quarterback here at South Carolina,” coach Shane Beamer said. “So there’s great competition, first of all, which I love. Then I think there’s just an experience and a maturity aspect with those guys.”
Some of the more experienced players are Auburn transfer Robby Ashford and Oklahoma transfer Davis Beville. They’re two additions from a large transfer class this offseason.
The Gamecocks added significant talent at a handful of positions.
“We may have a lot of new faces around here, not just in the quarterback room, but across the board,” Beamer said. “We may have lost a lot of production here at Carolina, but we replaced it with a lot of production from other schools. …
“I say that because it’s the same situation in the quarterback room as well. Those guys have played at this level.”
Ashford has the most experience, serving as the starter at Auburn for much of the 2022 season. He threw for 1,613 yards, with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions, while also rushing for 710 yards and seven scores.
He played significantly less in 2023, after Hugh Freeze took over as the program’s head coach.
Beville, meanwhile, was an infrequent contributor at Oklahoma, but he has at least some big-game experience, including in a marquee rivalry game.
“Robby has started games in this conference,” Beamer said. “Now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC, Davis Beville has started a game, an SEC team now versus an SEC team now. And when you play quarterback in that OU-Texas game, that game is wowzers when you talk about just electricity and intensity. They’re not like freshmen out of high school.
“It’s new for them because they’re learning a new system and how we do things and things like that, but it’s not a situation where the bullets are flying out there and they don’t know how to respond. They’ve been in those situations before, which is great.”
Then there’s a returning player, former four-star recruit LaNorris Sellers. Sellers has thrown only four passes in college, but the Gamecocks are quite high on his potential.
Having the two more experienced transfers in the room can only be a benefit for him.
“That helps LaNorris, as well, just having those guys to compete with him. And LaNorris, I’m really pleased with the progress he’s made because there is no Spencer in that room anymore,” Beamer said. “There’s Luke (Doty), who obviously has played a lot of football and somebody he can lean on. But he can’t rely on Spencer, and LaNorris really since January has been great just as far as taking a leadership role vocally and continuing to try and do the things that you need your quarterback to do.”
There’s still plenty of time for South Carolina to sort things out before it has to settle on a starter and that’s what spring ball should help accomplish, at least in part.