Gamecocks’ Shane Beamer: QB Luke Doty is healthy but ‘still hurting’ | South Carolina

COLUMBIA — He was cleared to play, medically. He didn’t feel tip-top, physically.

But Luke Doty needed and wanted to play, and wasn’t about to beg out of playing when he finally finally got his chance to get on the field.

“For anybody to think that if Luke went out there today and was asked to run a 40-yard dash and he’d run it faster than he ever has, a month after breaking his foot, is probably not very smart. I’m not saying Luke is not healthy. Luke is healthy,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “Luke is tough as hell, and he probably doesn’t feel great. If you ask him, he tells you he feels really good. If you watch him run, I’m sure he’s still hurting.”

Beamer seemed to clarify Doty’s injury, which knocked him out of the final three weeks of preseason camp and the first two games, although he could have played in both if needed. Initial reports had Doty suffering a fractured foot after being stepped on in practice, but it was downgraded to a sprain.

Whatever the case, the Gamecocks had to hurriedly push 24-year-old graduate assistant Zeb Noland into service and he started at quarterback in the first three games. Then Noland suffered a serious finger cut on his throwing hand against Georgia on Sept. 18,  and in came Doty.

The starting job was always Doty’s, but USC has had to readjust its offense when he’s out there. In the first half of a 16-10 loss to Kentucky last week, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield had to stay away from designed QB runs or letting Doty move the pocket, with the foot still not 100 percent and unlikely to change before the end of the season.

Doty did run some in the second half but the Gamecocks mostly relied on his arm. He finished 17-for-25 passing for 158 yards and a touchdown, with no turnovers and a few dropped passes from his receivers.

The offense as a whole continued a three-week trend by lurching and stumbling out of the muck before settling back in it, but that’s not all on Doty.

“Our biggest thing is going to be to just continue to start fast. We haven’t done a good job of starting fast in the first half, we kind of wait and turn it on in the second half,” Doty said as the Gamecocks prepare to host Troy on Oct. 2. “That’s going to be a big point of emphasis this week.”

Questions continue to mount about the offense. Why can’t the line block? Why is the crop of talented running backs unable to produce? Why are the tight ends being  ignored?

Clearly, Doty’s injury is a major factor.

“He’s tough, he’s gritty and he’s out there battling. He’s played in two games this entire season, a month after breaking his foot, so he’s got … whatever the exact term was that had happened to him, so what I mean is he’s continuing to get better and better. He’s continuing to get healthy,” Beamer said.

“Is he running as well as he did before he got hurt? Probably not. Is he that far off? No. As he continues to feel better and whatnot, we’ll continue to open up stuff.”

Satterfield confirmed that Doty’s foot is keeping the Gamecocks hindered, but just a bit. Most of the playbook is the same now as it was before he was hurt.

“As he keeps getting stronger and stronger, he can do more with his legs. He was trying like heck to churn it out and get every yard he could,” Satterfield said. “He’s working to get back to that point.”

There have been no other drastic changes. Beamer hasn’t had any more of a presence in the offensive meetings than he did before and no play-calling duties have been yanked or amended.

“You try to stick with the plan as much as you can, because eventually you’re going to break through,” Satterfield said. “There are times where you do have to trust your gut, trust your instinct.

“That’s what we’re striving to get to. But we will get there.”

Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.