When quarterback Lorenzo NuÃ±ez was set to enroll, he said his goal for his first year at South Carolina was to play and make an impact. In just his fourth career game, he trotted out as the starter against UCF and remained there the next week against Missouri.

He achieved success early, but suffered an injury against the Tigers that knocked him out for a month. Even though he’s “fine” now, according to quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus, he’s in a backup role behind junior Perry Orth.

NuÃ±ez was able to get back on the field for a play against Texas A&M and rushed seven yards for a touchdown on a gadget play that called for him to line up at wide receiver, take a pitch and have a run or pass option.

NuÃ±ez had another taste of what it felt like to have the spotlight on him, but Mangus says being in a backup role right now may be what’s best for him.

“It’s probably been good for him,” Mangus said. “When you’re a true freshman and can sit back and watch Perry, someone who knows what he’s doing, sometimes it’s good to sit back and watch that. Maybe he didn’t know as much as he thought he did. These older guys are good ones to learn from. He’s had a good week of practice this week.”

Even though he may be the backup quarterback, NuÃ±ez is taking more snaps this week at the position and could see some action against Tennessee when the Volunteers take on the Gamecocks (3-5, 1-5) on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network.

Under center as the starting quarterback or not, NuÃ±ez can play a role on the Gamecocks’ offense.

“He can do a lot of things. He’s a really good athlete,” Mangus said. “He’s going to play more and more now that he’s getting back healthy. Last week, he got one of those early (trick plays) and obviously it worked.”

Just don’t get too used to seeing him lined up at wide receiver. Mangus, who was also NuÃ±ez’s recruiter of record, is always sure to point out that the Harrison High School product is a quarterback, not a slash-type of player.

Junior quarterback Perry Orth

“He’s a quarterback,” Mangus said. “His shoulder was giving him some problems coming back, so we just kind of used him in that role last week, but he’s getting a lot of reps at quarterback this week.”

Q&A with Mangus

What kind of challenges does Tennessee provide?

Well, they’re fast, they can run. That’s the first thing that jumps out at you. They’re aggressive, rush the passer and play a lot of different guys. They seem to be playing better here of late.

How does Lorenzo embrace this new role of his?

You know, he’s fine. He can do a lot of things. He’s a really good athlete. He’s going to play more and more now that he’s getting back healthy. Last week, he got one of those early (trick plays) and obviously it worked. But he’s a quarterback. His shoulder was giving him some problems coming back, so we just kind of used him in that role last week, but he’s getting a lot of reps at quarterback this week.

Has it been difficult on him watching someone else start a game since he was the starter?

No, it’s probably been good for him. When you’re a true freshman and can sit back and watch Perry, someone who knows what he’s doing, sometimes it’s good to sit back and watch that. Maybe he didn’t know as much as he thought he did. These older guys are good ones to learn from. He’s had a good week of practice this week.

Freshman tight end Kyle Markway

Is he still shaking off the shoulder to some degree?

No, he seems fine. He’s had a good week and will be ready to go?

How much energy do you worry about protecting your signals from being stolen?

We talk about it all the time, but I don’t worry about it. … We do things to change all the time. If I’m worried about it, I’m not going to tell you all about it so everyone knows what we’re doing every week. We talk about it, I think everybody does because everyone is out there stealing signals.

You guys do it, right? It’s just kind of done.

Everybody is watching people that signal all the time. Whether they’re getting the right guys or not has been going on since Fido was a pup in the game of football. NFL, you know the Patriots only win Super Bowls because they steal signals. It’s a conspiracy theory across football. We talk about it all the time and I don’t worry about people stealing signals.

Paranoia in football exists, as you can see with all of that. We don’t need any six-foot canopies over people. If you go pretty fast and throw some tempo in there, you don’t have to worry about all that stuff.

How nice was it to see better execution in the red zone last week?

It was real nice. I didn’t even realize until (Brian) Turk told me we were dead last in the red zone (in touchdown percentage). I guess it was a little better. The execution was good and improvement from Vanderbilt to there was really an execution issue. We executed better against A&M and we need to continue to execute as the year goes.

Are there more wrinkles in this package trying to build on what you did last week?

Sure, we’ll add stuff as we go. At the same time, it’s all about making sure we know what we’re doing and getting guys in position to be successful. What we have is what we have and we have to be able to go and give them a chance to be successful. Last week was a stepping stone, and we’ll continue to work hard. Kids are practicing well and having fun.

What did you see out of K.C. Crosby to get him some more playing time?

He’s a good athlete, it’s just finding the niche, and we had not been, up to the last few weeks, using an H-back like we did with Patrick DiMarco. We really haven’t done a whole lot of it since D-Marc has been gone. He’s got that ability. Playing as an attached tight end, doing some of the things like Jerell does, Busta did and Markway and some of the guys who are bigger guys, it’s not giving him much of a chance. That gives him a chance to be a good player. He’s a talented kid and a tough kid, and we need those all we can get.

The tight end depth chart behind Jerell seems to have change a lot. Do you see Markway sticking in the number two spot now?

Yeah, but they all have different roles and things that they’re good at and strengths that they’re good at as youngsters. We’re trying to rotate them in there depending on what they’re doing. Kyle did some good things, got him a catch, and as long as we don’t give him too much right now, being a freshman and inexperienced, I think he’s going to continue to get better as we go. We’ll rotate them all around depending on what we’re doing.

What does Kyle do that you like?

You know, he’s tough. He’s tough. He’s got great hands. He doesn’t run very well compared to Jerell, but he doesn’t have to. That’s not what he does. For what we do and ask him to do, it requires him to catch the ball and be tough, and that’s what he’s doing. He’s got a good future ahead of him.

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