What Dakereon Joyner, USC quarterbacks have shown Will Muschamp early in spring

By Ben Breiner

Updated March 1, 2019 12:22 PM

South Carolina football had a guest on Friday in Theteka Joyner, the mother of Gamecocks quarterback Dakereon.

It gave USC coach Will Muschamp a chance to chat and look back with the family of the former four-star prospect.

“Sitting there today, talking to them after practice, I said, ‘Alright, practice three of spring last year, practice three of spring this year, what do you think” Muschamp said. “He said, ‘Like you said, it’s slowed down a lot for me.’ So a lot of progress, really command and some natural things that he does anyway.

“We’ve got to get turns and reps and we can’t get enough.”

Joyner is battling to replace Michael Scarnecchia as Jake Bentley’s backup. the coach also said he still sees Joyner as a quarterback, despite some questions about his ability to play another spot.

Muschamp cautioned the team had only done three practices, one in pads, but he liked one thing he saw from the quarterback group that included Joyner, Bentley, Jay Urich and four-star early enrollee Ryan Hilinski.

“The thing is there’s not a lot of procedure (issues), not a lot of self-inflicted wounds, not a lot of issues as far as who is our quarterback,” Muschamp said. “We’ve been functioning well when we get in our move-the-ball periods, and we ended practice today with some third-down group.”

Injury update:

Muschamp said five-star defensive end Zacch Pickens is dealing with a little hamstring issue, but shouldn’t be too big of a deal. He also said lineman Keir Thomas is still nursing an ankle injury that bothered him late last season.

Notes:

▪ Muschamp said his biggest expectation in early practices centered on mindset, which focused on energy and effort. He liked what he got on that front.

▪ The team hasn’t gotten to much true kick return work yet, mostly focused on punt return. He said the punt return blocking was not up to par last season. Noted there were only a few really impactful punt returns last season.

▪ Chandler Farrell had to leave early for class on Friday, which allowed for some cross-training on the offensive line. Donell Stanley got a little work at canter, Sadarius Hutcherson at guard and Dyaln Wonnum flipped from right to left tackle.

This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 11:23 AM with the headline "What Dakereon Joyner, USC quarterbacks have shown Will Muschamp early in spring."

Ben Breiner

The State

Covers the South Carolina Gamecocks, primarily football, with a little basketball, baseball or whatever else comes up. Joined The State in 2015. Previously worked at Muncie Star Press and Greenwood Index-Journal. Picked up feature writing honors from the APSE, SCPA and IAPME at various points. A 2010 University of Wisconsin graduate. Support my work with a digital subscription

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