COLUMBIA, S.C. — As the Gamecocks get ready for Florida, the question as to who will run the offense may not be answered until Thursday at the earliest.
Zeb Noland had surgery to repair a torn meniscus a little more than a week ago and while he is progressing, still has a few benchmarks to reach before he will return to the field.
“I think the biggest thing is just the mobility,” Beamer said at his Tuesday news conference. “I mean, he can sit in the pocket and throw. He did that today, but there’s a difference between that and then being able if you get flushed out the pocket, or you’ve got to scramble or you’ve got to run, how effective he would be doing that with his knee.
“He got the surgery last weekend. He stayed around here all weekend to rehab and get better, so he’s really far along with the rehab. On Sunday night when we came back to practice, we were really pleased with where he was after the weekend of rehab and was better today than what he was yesterday and he’s just got to continue to progress during the week.
“For us, to me, he needs to be able to do more in practice tomorrow than what he did today. Today was good but just keep taking steps throughout the week of practice.”
Beamer declined to announce a starting quarterback and that is based on needing to see more from Noland who did start the game at Texas A&M before Jason Brown came off the bench late and directed two scoring drives.
Brown completed 8 of 14 passes for 84 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Beamer listed Noland, Brown, Colton Gauthier and Connor Jordan, the four candidates to run out first against the Gators.
“They need to practice well and compete and show that they’re the best person for the job on Saturday night,” Beamer said.
Noland and Luke Doty have been the only starting quarterbacks this season for the Gamecocks. Doty has since undergone season-ending foot surgery.