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Who will be South Carolina football starting quarterback and what will spring game tell us?

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Who will be South Carolina football starting quarterback and what will spring game tell us?


COLUMBIA — No more Spencer Rattler. Now what?

The South Carolina football quarterback is headed to the NFL and his departure has created an open competition for the starter in 2024. With the Garnet & Black spring game Saturday (7 p.m., SEC Network+) at Williams-Brice Stadium, coach Shane Beamer made it clear Tuesday all of the candidates will get reps.

Rattler spent two years at South Carolina after three seasons with Oklahoma. For the Gamecocks, Rattler logged 6,212 yards, 37 touchdowns, rushed for 150 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished fifth all-time in passing yards and ranked first in Gamecocks history in career completion percentage (.675).

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“Obviously we’ve been evaluating everything every single day since we started practice in March,” said Beamer. “As far as naming one and where we are, whatever we do our players know competition is a core value so we will continue to compete at every single position through the summer.”

There are differing philosophies and approaches to a quarterback battle and Beamer noted he’s been a part of coaching staffs who all handled it differently. One approach, battle through August and name a quarterback nearing the first game, giving maximum time for competition. Another, have a starter named so you can have the rest of the team rally around him early in the preparation for the season opener.

“(Quarterback coach Dowell Loggains) and I haven’t talked about it as far as our time frame and wanting to do anything but even if there was an announcement after spring practice, like all positions, that position would have to continue to prove it, earn it and compete,” said Beamer.

With all that said, here is a breakdown of potential starting quarterbacks for the 2024 season going in the spring game.

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LaNorris Sellers played against Furman, Vanderbilt

LaNorris Sellers is a redshirt freshman who made three appearances last season. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Sellers, is from Florence, South Carolina. In his debut against Furman, Sellers went a perfect 4-for-4, throwing for 86 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went for 50 yards. Against Vanderbilt, he ran for a 36-yard touchdown and against Kentucky, he logged nine rushing yards.

Sellers committed to Syracuse out of high school but flipped his commitment to South Carolina. In high school, according to 247Sports Composite, Sellers completed 150 of 258 passes for 2,949 yards, 45 TDs, and only two interceptions.

Robby Ashford is transfer from Auburn

In January, the Gamecocks picked up Robby Ashford, a transfer from Auburn with two years of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Ashford began his college career at Oregon, playing both football and basketball. He didn’t get minutes for the football team but played 20 games for the baseball team in 2021 before transferring. He spent the last two seasons at Auburn.

In his first year for the Tigers, he threw for 1,613 yards, seven touchdowns and rushed for 710 yards, including seven touchdowns and started nine of 12 games in 2022. Last season, as the backup, he completed 14 of 27 passes for 145 yards, threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. He rushed for 217 yards and five touchdowns.

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BEAMER’S PORTAL What positions South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer is targeting in transfer portal

Freshman Dante Reno is a 2024 signee

Another potential option could be Dante Reno, the lone quarterback in the 2024 signing class. The 6-2 Reno is from Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and played at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. As a senior at Cheshire, completed 64.1 % of his passes for 2,358 yards, threw 20 touchdowns, seven interceptions and recorded 232 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin.



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One dead in Orangeburg Co. Saturday night crash

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One dead in Orangeburg Co. Saturday night crash


ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – The South Carolina Highway Patrol says one person has died in an Orangeburg County crash from Saturday night.

Sgt. Tyler Tidwell says this accident happened at approximately 7:05 p.m. on Redmond Mill Road near Magenta Drive. This is about four miles east of the Town of North.

Tidwell says a Hyundai sedan was traveling west on Redmond Mill Road when they went off to the road to the left and struck a tree. They were the only person in the car and the only vehicle involved.

The Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office has not yet identified the victim.

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South Carolina offers transfer portal DL

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South Carolina offers transfer portal DL


South Carolina continues to mine the transfer portal to fill needs and the Gamecocks have sent out another known offer to an interior defensive lineman.

Bowling Green transfer portal DL Davonte Miles posted on Twitter/X Saturday that the Gamecocks have offered the 6-foot-5, 275-pounder.

In addition to South Carolina, Miles is hearing from Mississippi State, Memphis, Northwestern, and UConn.

South Carolina Transfer Portal Resources:

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Miles is expected to play in Bowling Green’s bowl game on Dec. 26 and will likely make a decision after that.

Listed as a redshirt sophomore, Miles should have two years of eligibility left.

Miles collected 10 tackles, including a tackle-for-loss, and two quarterback hurries this season.

He is originally from River Rouge, Mich.

South Carolina is expected to bring in multiple interior defensive linemen from the portal as the Gamecocks will have to replace Tonka Hemingway, Boogie Huntley, Deandre Jules, and likely T.J. Sanders from this year’s talented group.

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Carolina already has one portal commitment at the position in Texas A&M transfer and former five-star Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy.



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South Carolina signee finishes Shrine Bowl week domination with huge defensive touchdown

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South Carolina signee finishes Shrine Bowl week domination with huge defensive touchdown


This week, some of the top high school players from both South Carolina and North Carolina took part in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas. South Carolina had 11 signees selected for the game, but some did not participate due to early enrollment at USC.

One name that popped up all week was Havelock, North Carolina native Donovan Darden. In fact, On3’s Charles Power picked Darden as his practice MVP. The future Gamecock linebacker got reps at both defensive end and linebacker.

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On Saturday, in what became a dominant 49-24 victory for the Tar Heels, Darden put his stamp on the strong week with a big-time play. Late in the 3rd quarter, North Carolina led 28-10 when the future Gamecock effectively ended the game. Irmo High School quarterback AJ Brand rolled right out of the pocket to escape pressure and tried fitting a pass through a tight window. Darden, who was in a short zone, stepped in front of the pass and picked it off. An elite athlete, he also made short work of the 48-yard return as he took the interception back for a score.

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You can watch the play below.

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Darden will join a linebacker room at South Carolina that could need a youngster or two to play. The Gamecocks use their ‘backers in a variety of ways, and his experience as a pass rusher could help him get on the field. He also has a solid frame already, measuring in at 6’4″ and 225 pounds. On3 ranks Darden as a 4-star EDGE prospect. In On3’s rankings, he is No. 122 nationally, No. 6 in North Carolina, and No. 13 among EDGEs. He will start his USC career in the linebacker room but could grow into an EDGE.





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