Coach Will Muschamp has been able to cut his list of five first-team quarterbacks to three in the first two weeks of spring practice, though it hasn't happened the way he envisioned. After seeing sophomore Lorenzo Nunez go down with a knee injury, senior Perry Orth broke his collarbone in Saturday's scrimmage, knocking out the team's two leading passers from last season. While Nunez could return before the team wraps up for the spring — contrary to initial reports — Orth will not be back in pads until at least the summer, as he underwent surgery on Saturday.
With Nunez and Orth out for the foreseeable future, plenty of fans will be clamoring for freshman Brandon McIlwain to be given the nod, and it appears that the job is his to win. The two-sport star had been getting the bulk of the second-team reps in the open practice, and his four-star rating gives fans reason to believe the dual-threat signal-caller could be the answer under center as soon as the Gamecocks take the field in Nashville for their season opener against Vanderbilt. Logically, since McIlwain was running the second team during practice over the last week, he should get a look as the main man when the team takes the field again this week.
While McIlwain is emerging as the favorite to win the job, fans shouldn't count out junior Connor Mitch. Mitch won the job over Orth, Nunez and redshirt sophomore Michael Scarnecchia last fall before suffering an injury in the home opener against Kentucky, and he did lead the Gamecocks to a season-opening win over North Carolina, which was the only loss the Tar Heels suffered during the regular season. That being said, Mitch was a frustration to Gamecocks fans in his brief time as the starter in 2015, completing just 13 of his 29 passes, and leading the way in a disappointing home loss to Kentucky, while fans still had high hopes for the upcoming season.
Scarnecchia is still listed on the first team, but it looks to be a two-horse race moving forward, with McIlwain having a huge opportunity to pull away. The freshman's work ethic has received high praise from football and baseball coaches alike, and that quality should serve him will as he tries to distance himself from a field that lacks separation. Both Mitch and McIlwain play with a similar dual-threat style, but McIlwain has more top end speed, as shown by his 4.67 40-yard dash, which would have placed him second among quarterbacks at the 2016 NFL Combine, behind only Louisiana Tech's Jeff Driskel. McIlwain also represents a fresh start for a program coming off its worst season since its 0-11 campaign in 1999, while Mitch could show that the new coaching staff isn't completely prepared to start over, which could upset some fans.
Essentially, the job is McIlwain's to win, as injuries to the two returnees who combined for 10 starts last season have derailed Muschamp's idea of a wide open five-man competition. If the Elite 11 quarterback is truly the real deal, there is no reason he shouldn't be named the starter for the fall.