Backup quarterback plays strong second half despite early struggles
For the second consecutive week, USC turned to backup quarterback Dylan Thompson to carry the offense due to an injury to starter Connor Shaw. And for the second straight week, Thompson also delivered a strong performance to help the Gamecocks to a dominating victory.
After Shaw left the game late in the first half due to a hairline fracture to his right shoulder, Thompson stepped in to deliver 177 passing yards and three touchdowns, one running and two passing.
On a night that saw coach Steve Spurrier win his 200th game as a collegiate head coach, South Carolina, now ranked No. 7 in the nation, blew out UAB by a final score of 49-6, in large part due to Thompson's efforts. But in spite of his performance, Spurrier said Shaw will be USC's starter as long as his shoulder is not injured.
"If we need to use two quarterbacks at times, Dylan can make some throws," Spurrier said. "He's proven that now the past two weeks. Connor has played too well for us to think we have any issues here now. Hopefully he can get that shoulder well, but if he gets hit and goes down, it's not right to put him out there."
After missing South Carolina's game against ECU entirely, Shaw said he was prepared for his start against UAB.
"I felt good coming in [Saturday]," Shaw said. "I felt like I could come out here and play. The more I threw, the more it hurt a little bit. But I absolutely felt I could play coming into this game."
Shaw struggled in the game's opening minutes, throwing an interception to end USC's first offensive drive. He was sacked twice in the first quarter and put up just 31 passing yards. The first points scored by the Gamecocks came on a fumble recovery by D.J. Swearinger, which he returned for a 65-yard touchdown.
But the junior's play picked up in the second quarter. Shaw threw a 16-yard screen pass to wide receiver Ace Sanders for the Gamecocks' second touchdown of the game.
His 20-yard pass to wide receiver Bruce Ellington set up junior Marcus Lattimore's two-yard scoring run, which made the tailback USC's all-time leader in touchdowns. But the hit Shaw took after the pass to Ellington forced him to leave the game.
"It's just sore and real tight right now," the quarterback said of his injury. "It's the same crack in my shoulder blade. Hopefully I'll be back next week."
Thompson started the second half for the Gamecocks and had a shaky beginning to his night, nearly throwing two interceptions in the first drive. But he connected with Ellington on a 43-yard pass and ran the ball six yards for a touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 28-6 lead.
"He was jittery there early," Spurrier said. "I've never had a touchdown drive where we threw one interception, they dropped another and then we scored a touchdown (on the same drive). He was a little jittery but he said, 'I'll be fine. I was a little too wound up.'"
Later in the quarter, Thompson found the end zone with a 94-yard pass to sophomore Damiere Byrd, the first touchdown reception of the wide receiver's career.
"I think maybe [UAB's] coverage was a little different in the second half," Thompson said. "On the play to Damiere ... it didn't feel great coming out of my hand. It wasn't pretty, but I looked up and he was running and I knew nobody could catch him. It was good to see that."
Thompson's performance came on the heels of a 330-yard passing performance against ECU. Ellington said the quarterback's confidence has increased noticeably with his success in the past two weeks.
"Dylan has a lot of confidence in his game," Ellington said. "He's coming out and being a great quarterback, and he's just keeping that motivation from the [ECU] game into this game. Hopefully he'll keep going and doing what he has to do to help the team win."
Thompson will be prepared to step in again if needed, but Spurrier said the Gamecocks will evaluate their quarterbacks later in the week, taking injuries into consideration.
"We'll see how they both feel in practice and go from there," Spurrier said. "I won't worry about it a lot. We'll play whoever we think is the best to go out there at the time."