Big Adjustments For New Gamecocks QB

South Carolina quarterback Jason Brown said transferring from an FCS school to an SEC school this spring has been anything but easy, but communication has helped him and the team adapt and handle the learning curve.

Brown said communicating in and out of the huddle and with the guys up front has been challenging but that he's working to get it right.

“I’m not going to lie or sit up here and say it’s been easy because it hasn’t," Brown said. "It’s completely different because I’m coming from a spread offense, and that’s not what we do here."

At St. Francis, Brown played in 18 games, making 12 starts for the Red Flash. He completed 253-of-411 pass attempts for 3,124 yards with 28 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Prior to his arrival in South Carolina, he rushed 50 times for 84 yards and a touchdown, and he's expected to compete for the starting role.

Brown said learning new defenses and the speed of the game has been different but said it has been fun and challenging.

“It’s a lot faster. I really have to know where I’m going with the football, and I can’t make any mistakes,” he said. “I really have to know what I’m doing, study , and learn as best I can. It’s fast and challenging, but I love it. It’s fun.”

Along with Brown, the Gamecocks QB room includes sophomore Luke Doty, who finished the 2020 season as the team's starting signal-caller and who will compete for that role again heading into the 2021 season.

His bio states he is able to use his legs when the play breaks down and is one of the faster players on the team.

Doty played in eight games, making a pair of starts and completed 43-of-71 passes for 405 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

He also rushed 41 times for 91 yards, and prior to the start of his freshman season, he took reps as quarterback and wide receiver early in camp. His first game action at receiver came in the game against Florida, while his first action at quarterback was in the win at Vanderbilt.

Redshirt sophomore Connor Jordan spent the 2020 season as the backup signal-caller after spending his first season with the scout team. He has not yet seen game action.

True freshman Colten Gauthier, who graduated from high school early and enrolled at South Carolina in January, is also among the mix.

But Brown said the competition between him and Doty has been a driving force.

“We talk every single day outside of football,” he said. “The competition’s been great. We go out there not just on the field. We’re in the meeting rooms with each other as well and competing in everything we do. That’s what drives us to be great. We know competing against each other is going to make us as a whole very, very good.”