The journey continues — Collin Hill named the starting quarterback at South Carolina

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Collin Hill has officially been named South Carolina’s starting quarterback for the Week 1 opener versus Tennessee. After following Mike Bobo to Columbia, S.C. the former Rams starter was able to beat out Ryan Hilinski, who played in 11 games for the Gamecocks as a freshman in 2019. 

“You want a guy that when he steps in that huddle, those 10 guys on the field and those 70-plus on the sideline believe that that’s the guy,” Bobo recently told a local radio program. 

“When he gets under center, you have a chance to move the ball, get first downs and that equals touchdowns. Going back to all of them, I think they competed hard, but Collin was the most consistent throughout camp.”

Obviously, health will always be a concern for a player that has had three major knee injuries. But it should come to no surprise to anyone in Rams country that Hill was able to win out the starting gig. 

For one thing, Hill has always been Bobo’s guy. Whenever Bobo speaks of Hill, it sounds like a proud father bragging to his friends about his son’s latest great accomplishments. Beyond his relationship with the offensive coordinator though — which was definitely an advantage over Hilinski from the start — Hill has always been a leader in the locker room and a guy with an NFL arm. He’s just been extremely unlucky. 

“He’s really cool off the field, but when we get on the field he turns into a monster,” Warren Jackson said of Hill last fall. “That’s something I really like about him — he doesn’t play around out there. When he’s on the field, he’s a dog.”

“He’s the best quarterback that I’ve ever been around,” Brendon Fulton added. “… He’s had a lot of setbacks and unfortunate situations, but I don’t see a ceiling for him. He’s incredible with the way he’s composed himself, his work ethic — he’s honestly one of the greatest football players I’ve ever seen.”

In 2016, when Hill, then a true freshman, took over the starting gig from a struggling Nick Stevens, we saw the potential from the get-go. In his first-ever start, Hill completed 21-of-27 attempts for 315 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Sure, it was against Northern Colorado — but for an 18-year-old to dominate the way that he did was eye opening. 

Hill’s second start? A 7-point road loss to a Minnesota team that ended up finishing 9-4 with the No. 27 ranking in the country.  

After tearing his ACL for the first time in a road win over Utah State (2016), Hill patiently backed up Stevens in 2017 and easily would have been QB1 heading into 2018. Unfortunately, life is cruel sometimes and Hill suffered a second major knee injury while playing pickup basketball right before spring ball (2018). 

The entire 2018 season was a rollercoaster as Hill attempted to come back from the injury in less than six months. Plus the arrival of K.J. Carta-Samuels made things even more wonky as Bobo flipped back and forth between the two throughout the year. 

2019 should have been Hill’s season. Following a three-year journey that was as difficult as it was emotionally draining, Hill looked extremely sharp throughout fall camp as well as the first two and a half games of 2019. He did throw a pair of interceptions in the opening loss to Colorado. His command of the offense and big-play ability were on display though. 

In roughly 10 quarters of football, Hill recorded five touchdown passes of 10 or more yards (8 total), and 840 passing yards. Had he not gone down in the Arkansas game, who knows if the Rams would have fallen at home to Toledo or started 0-2 in league play. This is not a shot at Patrick O’Brien, who proved to be a reliable starter over the course of the season. However, his early lack of chemistry with the ones definitely proved to be detrimental against Utah State and San Diego State.

At the end of the day, whether or not Hill will be able to be successful at South Carolina, will come down to if he can stay on the field. His command of the offense, his arm talent, and his leadership have never been in question. 

Here’s to hoping that one of the toughest CSU players of all-time finally gets his chance to shine.