Report: QB Ryan Hilinski to Start for South Carolina After Jake Bentley Injury

The South Carolina Gamecocks will reportedly have a true freshman under center for the foreseeable future.

Mark Schlabach and Chris Low of ESPN reported senior Jake Bentley suffered a foot injury during Saturday's 24-20 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels. The injury will keep him out indefinitely, which means highly regarded freshman Ryan Hilinski will start Saturday's contest against FCS opponent Charleston Southern.

Bentley struggled for much of the game against North Carolina and finished 16-of-30 for 142 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,171 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last season.

He has been solid but unspectacular for much of his career, and college football writer Matt Hinton said this change was eventually coming regardless of injury status:

Hilinski arrived at South Carolina as a 4-star prospect and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2019, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

"Ryan is extremely bright, extremely intelligent," Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp said Sunday, per Schlabach and Low. "He works hard at it, as far as the film work and different things are concerned, so nothing's changed as far as his preparation. He's prepared himself the right way the entire time, so I've been very pleased with that."

The game against what figures to be an overmatched Charleston Southern side comes at an ideal time and will allow Hilinski to garner some much-needed experience before the Gamecocks take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in their SEC opener.

They also face Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson later in the season.