Luke Doty embracing all opportunities to help South Carolina win
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer always knew Luke Doty was more than just a quarterback — he was a great athlete. That’s when he got an idea. He wanted to find a way to use Doty more often.
It made sense, especially with Spencer Rattler being the starting quarterback. He had the idea last year but never went through with it. However, that changed this year.
“I told him, ‘Look, you’re still our backup quarterback, but you’re one of our better football players. And it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for you to be standing next to me on the sideline for 70 plays during games. Let’s get you on the field and get you going,'” Beamer said.
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It didn’t take long for Beamer to go through on his word. He was serious about it. With a few minutes left in the second quarter against North Carolina last Saturday, Doty came onto the field. Only it wasn’t at quarterback.
Instead, he lined up at wide receiver, a position he hadn’t played since his freshman year. And in his first chance to do something, he caught a pass from Rattler over the middle for a 12-yard gain.
“It’s kind of like riding a bike, you never lose it,” Doty said.
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Later in the fourth quarter, Doty was back at it again. This time, he caught two passes, one of which was a 24-yard pickup to advance the Gamecocks into the red zone. He finished the game with three catches for 41 yards.
For Doty, the chance to play some receiver while also handling backup quarterback duties has been fun. But it also hasn’t been as hard of a transition as it may seem, especially when building a connection with Rattler.
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“It kind of makes it easy because we both play the quarterback position. So he has a feel of what I’m going to do, and I have a different perspective on it, obviously playing the quarterback position, seeing different looks, knowing what to get to,” Doty said.
“But I also know what seven is thinking, which makes it pretty easy for us to connect on some things and have the same mindset about maybe some look we’re getting that we’re going to check into something different…There is a silent communication between us that we’re on the same page pretty much all the time.”
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Heading into this week, the cat is out of the bag. Doty, a secret weapon in the offense last week, is no longer hidden. Now, he’s just embracing it.
“I’ve always said it, I’m a team guy. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get out there and help the team. It doesn’t matter what capacity it is, if it’s me being on a headset on the sideline, watching defense and making calls and that’s what it is. If it’s me out on special teams or playing wide receiver then I’m all for it,” Doty said.
