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The upcoming offseason will present a lot of questions for the South Carolina Gamecocks, but perhaps no bigger question will need to be answered next season than what will the Gamecocks do at quarterback?
Senior Dylan Thompson is out the door after one season of being in the starting role. Although he may not have been as impactful as a guy like Connor Shaw, Thompson was more than capable as a starter. He broke the single-season passing record for South Carolina with 3,574 passing yards and will certainly be tough to replace.
Who are the candidates?
Connor Mitch
If there’s a favorite out of the bunch, it’s likely going to be Connor Mitch. In 2014, the backup quarterbacks didn’t get much action, but Mitch saw the majority of snaps and threw six pass attempts compared to Perry Orth’s two attempts.
At 6-foot-3, 211-pounds, Mitch possesses the ideal frame for a quarterback and definitely looks the part. But experience is lacking and he didn’t look very sharp in the games he did play in 2014. Out of his six attempts, he connected on just two of them for 13 yards.
Mitch stood out earlier this year thanks to a strong spring and summer and emerged as the No. 2 option for the 2014 season. But as a relative unknown, it’s unclear what to expect out of Mitch next season when he possibly could throw a lot more passes.
Perry Orth
Behind Mitch is Perry Orth, another backup quarterback who saw limited time in 2014. He only threw two passes all season failed to complete either attempt.
Orth has caught Spurrier’s attention a few times this year, however. In the spring he was named Most Improved Quarterback award by the HBC and was noted for having a very tight spiral in camp.
Like Mitch, Orth’s game experience is limited to say the least. As a sophomore walk-on, he wasn’t expected to really make a big contribution to this program when he enrolled at South Carolina and has only seen action in just two games over the course of his entire career.
Orth will also be a major question mark heading into spring camp in 2015. There’s simply just not much to go on from past action to suggest that Orth will be a top quarterback.
Michael Scarnecchia
A true freshman in 2014, Michael Scarnecchia took a redshirt, sitting behind Thompson, Mitch and Orth on the depth chart.
At 6-foot-4, 189-pounds, Scarnecchia is an intriguing prospect, but will likely be a year or two away from truly competing for the job. He has never taken a college snap and still has a long way to go before being ready to become a starting quarterback in the SEC.
Still, Spurrier has said that he’ll get a shot at competing for the starting quarterback position in camp, along with Mitch and Orth.
Other options
- Lorenzo Nunez — Nunez is a dual-threat quarterback that will be coming in with the 2014 recruiting class. While he’s more of an athlete than perhaps the other options available, he won’t be coming into the program until the summer, so it’s unlikely he’ll be in a position to compete for the starting job in that short amount of time.
- Pharoh Cooper — Everyone knows what kind of playmaker Cooper can be at the wide receiver position, so why not throw him at quarterback? While this might not ever be seriously considered by the HBC, Cooper has a strong arm for a WR and threw the second-most attempts this season behind Thompson (8). It’s a move that would shock everyone, but Spurrier has been known to have a few surprises up his sleeve every now and then.
Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
