W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
** The most impressive thing about Luke Doty's debut on Saturday night was his poise. That comes as no surprise to those who have been around Doty for some time as his natural leadership skills and confidence have always been touted as strong characteristics. But even for someone with those intangibles, it wouldn't have been hard to blame Doty if there were some nerves in his first extensive SEC action.
But as Mike Bobo phrased it, the moment wasn't too big for Doty. And, in fact, he looked excited to be out there and that exuberance seemed to rub off on his teammates and he sparked the offense in the second half. Doty has impressed his teammates and others in the building with his infectious energy since he arrived on campus. It obviously was a factor Saturday night and Doty looked like someone who was just having FUN playing the game and competing alongside his teammates.
From a physical standpoint, Doty's speed and explosiveness and even tackle-breaking ability all translate to the SEC level. That may seem like a given, but I've seen guys in the past be dubbed as dual threats, but then when they get to the SEC, where everyone is considerably bigger and faster than high school players, it didn't exactly translate.
Doty was able to out run edge defenders and linebackers, which provides an added threat that the defense has to account for. He also did a great job of keeping his eyes downfield while extending plays and making quick decisions on getting the ball out.
While the passing game is the area of Doty's game he's working to improve on the most, he physically can make the throws and I thought had an accurate night throwing the football. I felt that Bobo and the staff did a good job of calling plays that let him make quick, decisive throws that he was clearly comfortable with and he turned it loose with confidence. The throws on the run were impressive as was the ability to gather a bad snap and then get his eyes back down field and complete a play. He's still learning the progressions and the intricacies of this offense, but the natural ability is certainly all there.
** As impressive as the debut was, and I said this on our live show, I hope that we can all try and slow this cycle of annointing a quarterback to be South Carolina's savior and building up these crazy expectations only to turn on them when they don't meet our expectations that we created in the first place
That sort of seems to be the trend in sports these days with social media and especially with the quarterback position. There's that time period when the backup QB is the most popular guy on the team because he's new and fresh and we haven't seen him mess up yet. And then the new QB gets his shot and we realize he's not perfect and he slowly gets turned on by a portion of his fans and then it's on to the next backup quarterback.
Doty is a special dude who I think the next coach is going to be THRILLED to have on his side. And I think he can be a huge part of turning this thing around, both on the field and in building the right locker room culture. He's going to be right there in the middle of it. But let's all (myself included) do our best to let it play out and let him go develop as a player before we fire up this vicious cycle again.
** Speaking of players the next coach will be happy to inherit, I've spoken to multiple people who tell me that MarShawn Lloyd loves it here and is committed to seeing it through at South Carolina. There haven't really even been any rumors of the contrary, but I know that's been a concern of some of you with the coaching change and with him being such a highly regarded talent.
Obviously, you never say never with things like that, but Lloyd wants to be here, plans to be here, and has made that clear.
If I'm a new coach coming in and running this offense, I'm probably looking at what I can do to build my plan around Doty, Lloyd and Kevin Harris. Are there some holes in this roster? No doubt. But there are also some foundational pieces to work with.
** As much as we've written about the wide recievers and their lack of stepping up this season, it's worth pointing out that Jalen Brooks, Josh Vann, Trey Adkins, and tight end Nick Muse all had some big plays Saturday.
South Carolina still wasn't explosive enough to go win the game, but there were some signs of progress there at least for the future. The transfer portal is going to have to be South Carolina's friend at receiver next year, but I still think Brooks is someone who can be a valuable receiver on this team with a full offseason under his belt.
How about Adkins? He made some plays late last year and then made some plays last night too. Apparently he does that with the scout team a lot too. His best catch was wiped out by a holding call, but he shows toughness and an ability to get open. Call me crazy but I'm not so sure he shouldn't have been on the field more earlier this season.
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