‘Coach’ at QB

Zeb Noland began preseason practice as a graduate assistant coach for South Carolina. He was assisting receivers coach Justin Stepp, the former Arkansas assistant.

But instead of being an obscure member of the Gamecocks’ staff for Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Illinois, Noland will be the team’s starting quarterback.

Noland, who has a season of eligibility left after playing at Iowa State and North Dakota State, began practicing with the Gamecocks early in camp after starting quarterback Luke Doty suffered a foot injury that will sideline him for the opener.

Within two weeks, Noland, 24, had moved up the depth chart to be the No. 1 quarterback in Doty’s absence.

“He just brings an older presence to not only the quarterback room but the offense,” Gamecocks center Eric Douglas told The State newspaper. “Sometimes if things are going wrong, we’ve got Zeb back there screaming and it’s like, ‘Oh, wow. We haven’t heard that before.’ ”

Noland played in nine games over two seasons at Iowa State, then played two seasons at North Dakota State, including seven games last spring. In 24 career college games, Noland has passed for 2,115 yards and 12 touchdowns.

When Oklahoma beat Iowa State 37-27 in 2018, Noland passed for 360 yards.

South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer got a firsthand look at Noland from the sidelines as an Oklahoma assistant.

“When we were talking to [Noland] about becoming a graduate assistant here, I remember the very first time [offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield] talked to him on the phone, Satt came to me and he’s like, ‘That guy might be the smartest quarterback I’ve ever talked to in my entire life,’ ” said Beamer, according to The Athletic. “So it’s no surprise from a mental standpoint that he’s able to pick stuff up.”

Noland can play for South Carolina because the NCAA awarded players an extra season of eligibility as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It never came up in my conversations with him,” Beamer said to The Athletic. “I didn’t ask. I wasn’t thinking about covid years and all that stuff.

“He came in here and got to work and got rolling and then there was one day in late June, early July where Satt mentioned, ‘You do know that Zeb has some eligibility left if we need it?’

“It kind of hit me then. We joked around with him about it for the entire month of July. Then it got very serious.”