How the South Carolina staff can get Luke Doty in a groove against Kentucky

The Luke Doty era has arrived. Well, sort of.

Doty was anointed South Carolina’s starting quarterback during the spring, before a foot injury sidelined him for the last few weeks of fall camp and through USC’s first two games.

But after being thrust into the action against Georgia, head coach Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield finally have their starting signal-caller. Next comes getting him in a groove.

“Luke Doty is Luke Doty,” offensive lineman Jakai Moore said Wednesday. “You know what Luke Doty is going to do. We’re just here to block for him.”

Over the past month, Beamer has stressed Doty took advantage of more mental reps than just about any other player he has coached. During practices, Doty has run through progressions and taken drop backs when he couldn’t suit up fully.

Receiver Jalen Brooks said he and Doty spent time after practice tossing the ball around and keeping his arm loose throughout his rehabilitation.

Quarterback Zeb Noland — who was added to the roster shortly after Doty went down after beginning the season as a graduate assistant — said he and Doty watched film together daily.

When Doty finally returned, the pair worked through throws alongside Satterfield. With each hitch and toss, Noland could tell when Doty might seem uncomfortable or when a throw might not work quite right and vice versa. Next came relaying that information to Satterfield and working around it.

“You never know when your number is going to be called,” Noland said. “How many of you guys would’ve had Luke in the second series of the game (against Georgia) because my hand got stepped on. Probably nobody. So you just got to be ready, because you never know.”

Since Saturday’s throttling at No. 2 Georgia, South Carolina’s coaching staff has sung Doty’s praises. He stepped into a borderline impossible situation and rolled with it. It wasn’t perfect, but spurts like his 36-yard touchdown throw to Josh Vann or the six carries he received reminded onlookers of what he can be when at full-speed.

With Doty now penciled in as the starter, Satterfield and Beamer are now working to find a rhythm with their QB1.

Granted, there’s no special formula or recipe in developing quarterbacks. Some of it comes through designed easy throws that build up Doty’s confidence. The other piece is just playing and letting the game sort itself out.

“I think he probably has eight to 11 plays in the last month versus the scout team — nothing 11 on 11,” Satterfield explained Wednesday. “So to go out there in that environment against that defense — we weren’t perfect executing, but he did some really good things.”

Satterfield joked there aren’t any easy throws against a Georgia defense that ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense entering last week’s contest. Kentucky, though, has been more susceptible.

Through three games, the Wildcats defense has allowed 274.7 yards per game — good for sixth-best in the Southeastern Conference. That said, that number is helped immensely by holding a Louisiana-Monroe team that won its first game in two years last week to just 87 yards in the season opener.

Kentucky has surrendered an average of 368.5 yards per game and more than 5 yards per play in meetings with Missouri and UT-Chattanooga the past two weeks. Had those numbers held up over the entirety of the year, the Wildcats would sit third-to-last in the SEC in both categories.

“When Zeb got hurt and Luke had to come in, it wasn’t like we said, ‘Let’s do this and kind of get him going,’ ” Beamer said on Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference. “We were in a dogfight and trying to win the game and go execute and I’m not sure many quarterbacks could’ve gone and done what Luke did coming in like he did.”

Wednesday followed the familiar tune of press conferences past. Satterfield talked up Kentucky’s defense, which, to be fair, has a handful of legitimate playmakers.

But should Doty be back in rhythm he found toward the tail end of the Georgia game — a contest he completed seven of his last 11 throws — come Saturday, the Gamecocks should feel plenty good about their chances at securing a much-needed win.