When South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers left Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt with an injury, the expected move followed — backup Luke Doty stepped in to take over under center.
That’s the natural order: starter goes down, backup comes in. But this time, Doty remained in for the rest of the night, even though the Gamecocks failed to score a single point with him leading the offense in their 31-7 loss to the Commodores.
Here’s how South Carolina’s possessions with Doty at quarterback ended: missed field goal, punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, fumble, fumble, interception.
“(Luke) did some really good stuff managing the offense, making calls, directing traffic, making throws,” head coach Shane Beamer said during his Sunday remarks.
Doty did have some positive moments. He finished 18-of-27 (67%) for 148 yards, and five of the seven drives he led crossed midfield before breaking down. Still, as the deficit grew, a question lingered: why not give third-stringer Air Noland or freshman Cutter Woods a shot?
Beamer revealed on his Sunday teleconference that he and offensive coordinator Mike Shula discussed the possibility.
“Not necessarily because Luke was playing bad, but just to get some other guys experience,” Beamer said. “But we didn’t.”
Judging by Beamer’s comments, those conversations likely came late in the game — before USC’s second-to-last possession with just over five minutes left, when Vanderbilt already led 31-7.
Even then, Beamer admitted he was holding out hope.
“I was confident that we were going to go down the field,” Beamer said, “score a touchdown, get the two-point conversion and make it a two-score game.”
He added: “(I) really felt confident about us being able to win the game in the fourth quarter, and felt like Luke gave us the best opportunity to do that as we got into the fourth quarter.”
So, would Noland or Woods have seen action?
“Yes, we did discuss it briefly,” Beamer confirmed.
