South Carolina's Quarterback Battle Is Going To Come Down To The Wire
South Carolina’s quarterback battle is coming down to the wire with one more scrimmage left for the Gamecocks during fall camp.
Head coach Will Muschamp said that Collin Hill was the player of the day after scrimmage number two, with Ryan Hilinski earning that distinction.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo spoke to the media on Friday and said that players have done well but neither has outright locked up the starting spot yet.
“All the guys have been practicing well there's been improvement with the guys,” he said. “I’m looking for consistency at that position as well. We've got to be able to execute offensively. I think I've said this before I'm not looking for a game manager, I'm just looking for somebody to do the job on a consistent basis, hit their target, go to the right place, set the protection right, get us in the right run and both have had their days and I've been pleased with what both are doing.”
He noted that the quarterbacks getting have had some highlights.
“We’ve had our fair share of explosive plays and they're not because we're calling plays to be explosive, it’s because of executing within the offense that is causing explosive plays. I would say there's separation that’s happening. There’s separation that happens day-to-day, not necessarily one guy consistently being the guy that’s separating but we have a good idea of how things are going and how things are playing and I'm looking forward to seeing play again tomorrow night.”
While the competition heats up on the field, the bond in the quarterback room continues to strengthen.
True sophomore Hilinski said that he and Hill, the graduate transfer out of Colorado State, have done devotionals together outside of practice and Hill has done just as much teaching as competing.
“Yeah I think the benefit of that is just being able to go to call in and ask him things that coach might not have time for or things that a quarterback might have a different answer than coach,” he said. “He might give you a couple of different pointers that that he's learned along the way because coach might say something you know that might be different and then you know we could expand off of that and talk about it. But I think somebody that's been in this offense for four years, I think it's really great for our quarterback room.”
Hill spoke highly of Hilinski saying “Ryan’s a talented guy for sure. I think he’s got a high football IQ.”
As they tradeoff reps with the first and second team, Hill said he doesn’t concern himself with which team he reps with.
“I really don’t try and read into it too much,” he said about who’s getting first team reps during scrimmages. “I can only control what I can control, so whether I’m going first, or I’m going with the twos, whatever the situation may be I have to make the most of my opportunity.”
South Carolina will be at Williams-Brice Stadium for scrimmage three this Saturday at noon.