Despite not winning starting job, Robby Ashford still valuable in South Carolina's QB room
Often lost in the chatter of a starting quarterback announcement is the fact that it effectively acts as a QB2 announcement as well. Head coach Shane Beamer confirmed LaNorris Sellers would start against Old Dominion in the South Carolina’s season opener next Saturday, leaving Robby Ashford as the presumptive backup.
After arguably the most talented Gamecock signal caller in recent history, Spencer Rattler, was drafted in the fifth round of this year’s NFL Draft, the quarterback job was up for the taking.
Sellers, the only candidate with game action with the Gamecocks, (Luke Doty has transitioned to wide receiver) was the favorite following spring practice, and seemingly stayed in front as preseason practice has progressed.
While the redshirt freshman will garner the buzz from local and national media alike, Ashford is certainly worthy of praise in his own right, garnering some from Shane Beamer after Sellers was announced as the starting quarterback.
“Robby really did some good things Saturday, and he’s going to help us win football games,” Beamer said. “We have multiple quarterbacks that we can win with.”
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A talented runner like Sellers, Ashford is listed at 6-foot-2, 229 pounds. The redshirt senior, who started his career at Oregon in 2020, before appearing in all 12 games for Auburn in 2022, tallying seven touchdowns through the air and another seven on the ground.
After seeing a dip in opportunities in Hugh Freeze’s first year at Auburn last season, Ashford entered the transfer portal and landed in Columbia.
Since arriving on campus, he’s provided veteran leadership to a team poised to start their season with Sellers, who hasn’t started a game in college yet, under center.
Iron sharpens iron, and the addition of Ashford has sharpened the rest of the quarterback room, which also includes former walk-on turned scholarship player Davis Beville and true freshman Dante Reno, son of Yale head coach Tony Reno.
“Good things happen when the ball is in Robby’s hands,” Beamer said. “We’ve got full confidence in Robby being out there if we asked him to go out there and do something.”
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Another responsibility of being the backup isn’t quite physical more than it is simply mental: knowing the coaching staff thinks someone else is better suited to lead the team’s offense. That isn’t an issue at all for Ashford, at least if team practices are any indication.
“LaNorris threw a touchdown pass to win it, and the first offensive player you see come off the sideline to celebrate in the end zone is Robby Ashford,” said Beamer, sharing an instance that happened during the team’s final scrimmage. “He is the first guy out there celebrating with his teammates.”
