Steve Spurrier left little or no doubt earlier this offseason as to Dylan Thompson being South Carolina’ unquestioned starter at quarterback. Just who will back up Thompson remains an ongoing mini-battle, although the current favorite for that job is a player who’s not even on scholarship.
The Gamecocks’ head coach revealed his quarterback pecking order following a scrimmage Saturday, with a walk-on sliding into the No. 2 spot behind Thompson.
“Perry (Orth) did ok. Perry has probably moved up to No. 2 right now,” the coach said in comment distributed by the team. "(Brendan) Nosovitch and Connor Mitch are the co-3rd guy right now.”
Thompson worked the first series of the scrimmage, with Orth the next in line.
Orth walked on to the Gamecocks in January of last year but did not play in 2013. Nosovitch, a three-star member of South Carolina’s 2012 recruiting class, has long been expected to land the backup job if not provide significant competition for Thompson for the starting job. While the latter’s still expected to claim the spot, the OBC, with the public declaration, could very well be sending a message to the player that he needs to step his practice game up a notch or two.