Of the 128 teams in the FBS, the South Carolina Gamecocks rank 128th in scoring offense. When your offense has only scored nine touchdowns — fewer than any other team in the country — some changes need to be made.
Over the past two weeks, the blame for the Gamecocks poor offensive production has been placed on the two quarterbacks, senior Perry Orth and true freshman Brandon McIlwain, who have been splitting time under center thus far this season. Neither one has stats that fill up the box score. Orth has appeared in four games in which he has thrown for 661 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns. McIlwain has taken snaps in five games so far with 567 yards, four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) and one interception. With every other team in the country having scored at least 11 touchdowns and the Gamecock’s record sitting at 2-4, fans are calling for a change. Not from Orth back to McIlwain or for the two quarterbacks to split time; no, Gamecock fans everywhere are calling for Jake Bentley to take the field.
Jake Bentley. We want Jake Bentley, the third string, backup quarterback who would still be a senior in high school had he not skipped his last year to enroll early at USC, to come off the bench, burn his redshirt and save the day? That is what this season has come to.
Head coach Will Muschamp has not put an end to the speculation, saying things like “We’ve looked at all options as far as what we need to do,” and “We went back and evaluated every position,” and hinting that Bentley has now caught up to Orth and McIlwain after getting off to a slower start in fall camp.
South Carolina fans have seen this quarterback carousel before under former head coach Steve Spurrier. Despite being an offensive guru and Heisman-winning quarterback, Spurrier struggled in recruiting top tier talent at the quarterback position due, in part, to his reputation for having a quick trigger with his quarterbacks. During his regime, South Carolina let countless talented quarterback recruits leave the state (Jacob Park and Mason Rudolph are a few recent examples). Muschamp needs to avoid switching back and forth between quarterbacks in order to not scare away potential quarterback recruits in the future.
Another reason to leave Bentley off the field is that a change at quarterback can only do so much. The oft-injured Gamecock receiving core has a tendency to drop passes or not suit up for games at all. The offensive line has also been banged up, but even at full strength they struggle with run blocking, pass protection and blitz pickups, things that are somewhat essential to being successful as a unit. Playing Bentley now would mean taking off his redshirt and costing him an entire year of eligibility (do not try and suggest that he will leave early to turn pro anyway. Let’s not get carried away about a player who has not set foot on the field yet), and subjecting him to injuries that may come from playing behind a struggling offensive line. Bentley has also served as an unofficial recruiter for the 2018 recruiting class. One thing he and the coaching staff can sell to those players is that help is on the way, but suppose Bentley were to play and to perform poorly. Would we see a mass exodus of players who had previously committed to South Carolina only to find out that their quarterback of the future is not as good as expected?
How Muschamp and his staff handle this delicate situation will affect how recruits, especially quarterbacks, perceive this coaching staff and could either build or shatter the confidence of Brandon McIlwain. It would be best to stay the course, redshirt Bentley, and let McIlwain and Bentley battle for the starting job next spring.