With Zeb Noland hurt, Luke Doty could finally take over as South Carolina’s QB1

As Luke Doty glared into the camera of the computer screen buried somewhere beneath Sanford Stadium, there was tempered optimism in his voice.

Doty wasn’t perfect in Saturday’s 40-13 throttling at No. 2 Georgia. He finished the night 13 of 26 for 153 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He missed a couple deep shots. It took him some time to find a rhythm.

But for a quarterback who has missed most of the first month of the season and has been sidelined with a sprained foot since mid-August, there were bits and pieces to like in Doty’s return to action.

“It’s just my job to go out there and execute to the best of my ability,” he said postgame. “Obviously, we left some plays out on the field. I left some plays out on the field. But I was ready when my number was called and that’s what it’s all about.”

Head coach Shane Beamer didn’t go as far to say Doty will be South Carolina’s starter this coming week in a crucial tilt against Kentucky (3-0), but the writing is on the wall.

Zeb Noland exited Saturday’s game after his throwing hand was stepped on. Beamer told reporters postgame there was a significant cut and that he had lost feeling, but his staff didn’t think it was broken. As of Sunday, Noland’s hand was still heavily bandaged, per Beamer, and he was “struggling to get feeling back.”

That Doty could be QB1 Saturday is a welcome return for an offense that managed OK under Noland, but feels like it has a potentially higher ceiling with Doty under center.

The former four-star recruit was chased up and down the field in Athens on Saturday. Play after play he seemed to pick himself off the turf after another of Georgia’s “100 five-star recruits,” as Beamer called them, terrorized the South Carolina backfield.

But for what inconsistency Doty got in pass protection, he made plays. On a third-and-9 at the South Carolina 21-yard line, Doty zipped a 16-yard pass to Jalen Brooks as he shimmied out of an attempted arm tackle by the Georgia defensive line.

Doty then rainbowed a pass late in Saturday’s fourth quarter that receiver Josh Vann sprinted under and took into the end zone for the first offensive touchdown the Bulldogs have allowed all season.

“It was really, really, really impressive what (Doty) did last night at the quarterback position — sitting in the pocket, taking hits, making some big time throws,” Beamer said. “Obviously, a little bit off on the deep balls, but we’ll get that corrected and that’s to be expected in his first real action since preseason camp. Proud of him and the toughness he showed. “

If Noland’s story is nearing a conclusion in Columbia, it’s been one made for a Disney movie. Less than two months ago, the former Iowa State and North Dakota State quarterback was a graduate assistant on Beamer’s staff. With signal-caller depth lacking and Doty subsequently injured, Noland was added to the roster and led South Carolina to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2017.

Saturday, too, was a special moment for Noland and his family — who live just down the road from Athens in Watkinsville, Georgia. There, Zeb starred as a high school quarterback at Oconee County High School where his father, Travis, still serves as the head coach.

Noland was never supposed to play during the 2021 season. Taking the field at Sanford Stadium, albeit in a short-lived outing, was an added bonus.

“When he decided that he wanted to come back out and play — when he and I were having those conversations — one of the things that he did mention was how cool it would be to go back to play at Sanford Stadium in the town he went to high school in and his family lives in,” Beamer said last week.

Again, Doty wasn’t perfect on Saturday. Most won’t be against a Georgia defense that entered the weekend as the No. 1 unit in the country.

But for the first time since social media channels nearly melted down upon news of Doty’s injury, South Carolina’s projected preseason QB1 may finally be ready to ascend to his throne.