Shane Beamer explains how Luke Doty and Spencer Rattler have helped one another

The addition of Spencer Rattler in the South Carolina quarterback room ends what was nothing short of a quarterback carousel on the field for the Gamecocks last season. Sophomore quarterback Luke Doty, who started five games for South Carolina last season, will likely find a home next to the offensive coordinator on the sidelines next season, but that doesn’t mean Doty and Rattler aren’t learning from one another.

“They’ve been great for each other,” Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer said. “I think Luke’s been great for Spencer, and Spencer has been great for Luke and that whole quarterback room.”

Doty’s started eight games for South Carolina in his first two seasons in Columbia. His arrival on campus coincided with the COVID 19 pandemic, so he never got a normal introduction to what playing for South Carolina was really like. Injuries kept Doty out of the lineup before he became the regular starter for the second half of the season.

“Obviously I wasn’t here in 2020,” Beamer said. “But he’s doing a lot of different things in that 2020 season and then becomes the quarterback in a tough situation. And then automatically, he goes into 2021 and he’s essentially the guy — starts the season as the guy — then gets hurt and gets thrown into action [against Georgia].

“He’s still young and doesn’t have a lot of experience. So certainly to be able to talk to and learn from Spencer, a guy who does have a ton of experience and has played in a lot of football games and has won a conference championship is really beneficial for Luke. And then, you know, Luke’s knowledge of this offense and the way that things have been done here has certainly been beneficial for for Spencer as well.”

During the 2020 season at Oklahoma, Rattler played in 11 games and completed 67.5% of his passes, throwing for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also had six rushing touchdowns. Entering last season, he was viewed as a Heisman favorite and was a serious candidate to be selected early on in the NFL Draft. But Rattler’s 2021 season did not go as planned.

A few games into the season, Rattler struggled in a game against Texas, and Williams was inserted into the game. Williams never gave the starting job back and sent Rattler packing to Columbia, but Shane Beamer believes the lessons he’s learned as the star of a program are invaluable to players like Doty.

“You know, it’s great that Spencer is not walking into a situation where he’s surrounded by a bunch of guys that haven’t played here at the quarterback position,” Beamer said. “He does have that in Luke.”