Let the Lorenzo Nunez Era Begin at South Carolina

It didn't matter much in the final result, but true freshman Lorenzo Nunez gave South Carolina what head coach Steve Spurrier called "a spark" at quarterback on Saturday night against Georgia. 

And now Spurrier is hoping that spark can turn into something that heats up an ice-cold South Carolina offense.

On Tuesday, Spurrier announced that Nunez would start at quarterback for the Gamecocks this Saturday against winless Central Florida, per Josh Kendall of the State.

"Lorenzo gives us a little spark maybe we need offensively," Spurrier said. "It’s time to let him play. He should play a lot this year, barring injury."

"If [Nunez] goes out there and plays very well, we could be a one-quarterback team."

While Spurrier said former starters Perry Orth and Michael Scarnecchia could play against UCF and other teams this season, the "Head Ball Coach" made it clear on Tuesday that the starting quarterback job is now Nunez's to lose.

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In just two games, Nunez has shown just how dangerous he can be as a runner. The former 4-star recruit is South Carolina's No. 3 rusher so far this season, going 116 yards on just 12 carries.

Against Georgia, he had a 17-yard run to open South Carolina's first touchdown drive, and he ran for 39 yards on four straight plays to punch in a score of his own in the fourth quarter.

According to Ben Breiner of the State, Nunez got 23 snaps against Georgia, and 18 of them were running plays. Nunez was a versatile runner against the Bulldogs, getting carries on triple-options, read-options and draws.

Breiner also noted how Nunez's dual-threat nature allows the South Carolina coaching staff to get more creative with its play-calling. The Gamecocks used offensive star Pharoh Cooper in a number of intriguing ways with Nunez:

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On six of Nunez's plays, wide receiver Pharoh Cooper motioned into the backfield to give USC some of its few two-back looks. With Cooper back there, he could either play as pitch man on the option, a potential speed nightmare on the edge, or run outside sweeps opposite Nunez to stretch the field horizontally.

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In addition to the explosiveness Nunez offers to the offense as a rushing weapon, he also delivered some accurate passes in limited work on Saturday night against Georgia.

He completed four of his five attempts, including an impressive 14-yarder against good coverage. According to Manie Robinson of Greenville Online, Nunez's only incompletion was on a drop.

Although Spurrier didn't trust him to throw the ball much against Georgia, this upcoming matchup against UCF is a perfect time to give Nunez the opportunity to show what he can do through the air.

The Knights, who have lost to Florida International, Stanford and FCS foe Furman in three straight weeks, have the nation's No. 111-ranked pass defense right now.

Each opponent has gained at least 216 passing yards through the air, and Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan had a career-high 341 yards against UCF in Week 2.

Now Nunez can be turned loose as a passer, which is something he said he had worked on this week against South Carolina's first team.

"I feel pretty comfortable," Nunez said, per Kendall. "I have been taking more reps throwing the ball at practice against the No. 1 defense."

For an offense that has struggled through the first three weeks of the season, this whole situation with Nunez has had perfect timing—his breakout second half against Georgia came right before a favorable nonconference matchup at home.

Spurrier is going out of his element here by starting a freshman quarterback, but it's because of the spark he saw on Saturday in Athens.

And maybe that's all it will take to get a dry offense to catch fire.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.