Zeb Noland writes final note to South Carolina fans following Duke's Mayo Bowl
During a year of many surprises for everyone, few people had a more shocking journey through 2021 than South Carolina quarterback Zeb Noland.
Nolan arrived in Columbia as a graduate assistant after playing college football at Iowa State and North Dakota State, and he will leave as a former starting quarterback for an SEC team. Following a 38-21 win over North Carolina in Thursday’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Noland composed a letter to the Gamecock faithful.
Noland is a Georgia native, so his move to the Southeast was a homecoming. While at South Carolina, the 24 year old completed 55.2% of his passes for 679 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
This season was his sixth year playing college football, so he has officially exhausted his collegiate eligibility. His next steps are unclear.
Gamecocks take momentum into offseason
South Carolina started the game on Thursday with a bang, completing their first two passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
In head coach Shane Beamer’s first season, the Gamecocks finished above .500 for the first time since 20`18. They take an immense amount of momentum into the offseason both because of their performance and the transfer of former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler to Columbia. Rattler could not play in the bowl this season, but he had a message for his team following the game.
“Awesome watching my future teammates get a victory,” the pre-season Heisman favorite wrote on Twitter. “Congrats!”
He should immediately step in as the starting quarterback after the Gamecocks went through three different starters this season. The No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2019 according to On3 Consensus, Rattler will make South Carolina one of the most intriguing teams in the SEC next season.
Rattler lived up to his hype in 2020, winning co-Big 12 newcomer of the year. He passed for 3,031 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions that season, leading Oklahoma to a Big 12 title.
However, this season did not go the way he hoped. After a slow start, Rattler ended up benched for true freshman Caleb Williams by Week 6. When Sooners coach Lincoln Riley announced that he was leaving for USC at the conclusion of the year, Rattler too decided to leave Norman.
The quarterback eventually settled on South Carolina, where he has a connection with the head coach. Beamer spent three years as an associate head coach at Oklahoma from 2018-2020. That familiarity no doubt played a part in Rattler’s decision.
On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.