Sports

5-Star Passer Ditches QB1 Competition At Ohio State To Assume QB2 Role In SEC

#Air Noland
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Air Noland throws a pass before the Ohio State spring game.

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Freshman QB Air Noland entered the transfer portal this offseason after spending one year at Ohio State. Despite seeing a starting role under center in Columbus set to open up, the former five-star signa caller (Rivals) opted to move on.

Will Howard is out of eligibility after 2024. Backup Devin Brown is transferring. That would seemingly leave Noland as an option for the upcoming QB competition.

Instead, he’s bailing on the possibility of landing that QB1 job to assume a QB2 role in the SEC. Noland committed to South Carolina on Monday. He’ll now sit behind LaNorris Sellers for at least a season while learning the ropes.

Sellers was one of college football’s great stories last season. After a slow start to his redshirt freshman season, he turned a corner midway through the year.

Across his final seven contests, he threw for 15 scores and four interceptions. He added a pair of 100-yard rushing performances. The Gamecocks went 6-1 across that span with the only setback being a two-point loss at Alabama.

He’s firmly entrenched himself as the starter moving into his redshirt sophomore season. No one that the program can bring in would change that. Air Noland is apparently content sitting for another year or two in Columbia. Movement at Ohio State likely aided in that decision.

While the Buckeyes’ top two passers in 2024 will be gone after this year, the team did bring in former five-star Alabama signee Julian Sayin before season’s start. Many said Sayin passed Noland on the depth chart this fall. Five-star passer Tavien St. Clair is also set to join the QB room in ’25.

Noland might’ve read the writing on the wall. If so, the transfer to South Carolina makes sense in some ways. Sellers is old enough to go pro after his next season should he perform at a high level. That would allow Noland to sit back and learn without the pressure of immediate production. It might also allow him to see the field earlier given the freshman classifications of his would-be opponents at OSU.

The Gamecocks’ hiring of OC Mike Shula was a selling point, too, as he coached Cam Newton while in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. With that being said, there are likely a number of places where Air Noland could start right away. He’s opted to choose development and fit over the QB1 role.