Why Dowell Loggains has belief in Spencer Rattler, South Carolina QB room

South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains isn’t anointing anyone.
Yes, quarterback Spencer Rattler is the starter heading into 2022. Yes, freshman LaNorris Sellers has received myriad headlines and praise since he enrolled in January. But that means next to nothing — at least right now.
“The coaching staff hasn’t told LaNorris he’s the No. 3,” Loggains told The State. “He’s not the No. 2. We don’t know what he is other than he’s getting reps with Tanner (Bailey) and Colten (Gauthier).
“... There’s one there’s one guy in the QB room that’s the dude right now and they all know it. I think everyone in that room has got that mentality of, ‘I’m gonna do whatever I can to when my number’s called, I can take advantage of my reps, but I’m also gonna do whatever I can to make sure that your Spence is successful.’ That’s what you want from your room.”
Make no mistake, Rattler is QB1 this fall. Barring something unforeseen, he’ll start all 12 regular-season games and whatever postseason might await. Still, there’s excitement about South Carolina’s quarterback room that’s a far cry from the past few falls.
That starts with Sellers.
The big-armed South Florence product was a late add to the Gamecocks’ 2023 class. He backed off commitments to Virginia and Syracuse at varying points in the recruiting process. USC finally offered him on Oct. 22. He committed two months later.
Sellers looks the part. The way he finagled his way around the pocket on busted plays during the spring game and the lightning-rod arm of his shows as much. But there’s still an open competition for the duties behind Rattler. Sellers is in the thick of it.
Loggains can understand why folks suggested as much — particularly after his impressive showing in the Garnet and Black spring game.
“Why does LaNorris make so much noise?” Loggains asked rhetorically. “Sometimes it was ugly. Sometimes he looks like a freshman, but he got the ball downfield. How’d that happen? The ball got snapped over his head. He didn’t panic, picked it up and threw a ball to the sideline and gave us a chance. Then the next play — because he makes a head play — he pops a glance route for 65 yards and we go down and score. That’s it.”
Where Sellers is the future, Rattler represents the here and now. His up-and-down college career is well-documented. Yet in a day and age where the only real constant in college football is change, Rattler is relatively proven commodity.
The former five-star signal-caller has arm strength that has NFL scouts salivating over his potential. He moves better than he often gets credit for in the pocket. He can make those “wow” throws that make the reruns on ESPN. But now comes the consistency.
Rattler flashed those tools in the upset wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson. It’s the 10 games prior that have him back in Columbia — and part of what Loggains sees as potential building blocks for a successful season in 2023.
“A lot of times (as a play-caller) it’s just finding a way to get your guy in a rhythm,” Loggains said. “it’s like in ‘NBA Jam’ and the guy is on fire. Well then throw it. Let him go. ... I’m sure that’s how it felt in the Tennessee game. It sure looked like it on TV. That’s what it looked like in the Clemson game versus those ugly games that everyone experiences.
“ ... You’ve got to find the windows. That’s where we’ve got to do a great job this year with consistency, taking care of the ball and just finding ways when you’re not hot to get us in the end zone.”
In all reality, South Carolina will go as Rattler goes in 2023. The Gamecocks were at their best a year ago when their quarterback performed up to his strengths. Rattler pieced together a quarterback rating of 155.4 in USC’s eight wins last year. That number dipped to 112.73 over the team’s five losses.
Those aforementioned upsets? Rattler, too, was borderline unconscious. He combined to complete 70% of his passes for 798 yards and eight touchdowns in those wins over Tennessee and Clemson. Those passing numbers also represented 26.5% of his total yards passing and 44.4% of his total touchdown passes in 2023.
“I was younger back then (at Oklahoma) just playing ball, having fun, learned a lot,” Rattler said at SEC Media Days of his path from OU to USC. “I had a lot of experience — success and adversity. I learned how to get through adversity at Oklahoma. Obviously came out on the other side here at South Carolina. “God has me here for a reason. I’ve been enjoying every moment of it. I learned how to become a better player, better person here at South Carolina.”
South Carolina needs the late-season version of Rattler to reach expectations that have grown incrementally as coach Shane Beamer’s squad bucked preseason prognostications the past two seasons. Sellers, too, needs to develop as he can in hopes of winning a quarterback battle with Luke Doty, Bailey and Gauthier a year from now.
All that said, South Carolina finally seemingly has a stockpile of quarterbacks at its disposal. It’s been a long time since we could say that.