COLUMBIA — There was no time to appreciate, embrace or really applaud. South Carolina got the ball for its first possession of the second half and Bobby Doty saw … was it … yes, that was him.
“My wife and I, obviously we’re excited, but no matter who goes out there, we’re cheering 100 percent for the team,” he said. “He’s our son, so it puts a lot more weight there.”
Bobby’s boy Luke Doty took the field for the Gamecocks, lining up under center as their new quarterback, and Bobby barely had a minute to beam before Luke took off. On second-and-10 following an incomplete pass, Missouri blitzed and Luke saw the hole.
He was down 14 yards later, taking the contact after he made one man miss. In the stands at Williams-Brice Stadium, Bobby alternated between clapping for his son and wincing at the tackle.
“Luke didn’t run a lot in high school, or didn’t have to run a lot in high school,” Bobby said. “He’s got a lot to learn, and he’ll tell you that, too. This is SEC football, big-boy football.
“We cringed a little bit but two cool things — he’d take a couple of good licks, and three linemen were picking him up, and getting him to the line. Then the first person to meet him off the field was (benched QB Collin Hill), giving him a high-five, patting him on the helmet, being in his ear. Collin spoke to us after the game about how proud he was of Luke.”
And so spins the quarterback carousel at USC. After offensive coordinator Mike Bobo stuck with Hill through seven games despite middling production and relentless critiques about his lack of mobility, Luke got a shot and played well.
Bobo said Tuesday he had picked a starter for Saturday’s game hosting No. 13 Georgia (7:30 p.m., SEC Network) and the team knows but he won’t inform the public. It’s probably for the best, considering that in the age of COVID-19, who knows if a Tuesday plan for a Saturday game would actually last until Wednesday, much less the day of the game?
Logic says that the Bulldogs won’t be fooled like the Tigers were, since there was scarce tape of Luke and barely any of him running in the open field. Plus, Missouri runs a defense reminiscent of the fabled 46 used by the 1985 Chicago Bears, where the main objective was to crush the quarterback. It creates holes for mobile QBs to exploit.
Numbers seem to leave the choice obvious. Hill didn’t move the offense. Luke did.
“You look at a guy making first-rounders and the best of the best miss,” tight end Nick Muse said. “He’s a tough kid and he kept getting up.”
Luke, the state’s reigning Mr. Football from Myrtle Beach, had played but very sparingly this season. Saturday was his first sustained action and he wound up leading the team in rushing while guiding the Gamecocks to the brink of a comeback.
He made some mistakes, like tossing the game-clinching interception when he didn’t see a linebacker camped in the middle of a field. He also took some chances that worked, but resulted in hits that threatened to put him into an iron lung.
“That was definitely a point of emphasis today, just protecting your body. Making the plays you need to make when you need to make them,” Luke said. “Slide, get out of bounds, that’s the most important thing.”
Bobby knows it’s part of the game and sure, he’d prefer it if Luke maybe looked for the easier route to the first down. Then again, the gleam in Luke’s eye after the game was hard to miss.
“Just to see him out there, he looked like he was having fun. I preached that to him, that no matter what you do, you can be the leader whether you’re QB1 or the fifth guy. So have fun,” Bobby said. “Connor (Shaw) came out and said we need to have fun. This is a game. You know as I know it, college business is a huge business, but the business is away from those kids.”
It seems definite that Luke will play against Georgia, and he may start. Bobby will head to North Myrtle Beach Friday night to see Luke’s brother Jake play for the lower state championship, then be in Williams-Brice Saturday for the Gamecocks-Bulldogs clash.
Bobby won’t cover his eyes when Luke takes off running and hopes to see what Luke learned this week.
“In the game, he’s kind of taking hits like he was actually playing H-back or something,” tailback Deshaun Fenwick said. “I hope it gets communicated that Luke needs to learn how to slide, but hey, he’s a tough guy. He can dish out as much punishment as he takes.”
The comparisons to Shaw, especially as Luke attempted to mimic what Shaw did against Missouri seven years ago, were numerous but premature. He was a freshman in his first real action, leading a rally that fell short.
Yet he created excitement and gave the Gamecocks a chance to win. In a dreadful season, any spark is welcome.
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