Tennessee football will face QB Collin Hill at South Carolina

The South Carolina Gamecocks have their quarterback against the Tennessee football Volunteers.

An assistant coach for Tennessee football was once the offensive coordinator for the quarterback who will face the Vols in their season-opener at the South Carolina Gamecocks. Will Muschamp named who will start on Thursday.

Collin Hill, a graduate transfer who spent the past four years with the Colorado State Rams, won the starting job over sophomore Ryan Hilinski. From 2016 to 2018, Hill played under Mike Bobo. He played under Mel Tucker last year.

Will Friend, Tennessee football’s offensive line coach, was CSU’s offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017, and Hill started four games for him as a true freshman in 2016 before suffering a season-ending injury. In 2017, he took a redshirt. Here’s a video of Muschamp announcing the decision.

While playing under Friend, Hill completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 1,096 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions in five games and four starts. He averaged eight and a half yards a completion and went 2-2 as a starter.

For his career, the 6’4″ 222-pound pro-style quarterback completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 3,320 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, appearing in 10 games in 2018 and just three games last year. His best year was easily under Friend.

Coming out of Moore, S.C., Hill is back in his home state with the Gamecocks, which makes for a great storyline on their end with him winning the starting job. He will certainly be dangerous against the Vols, but Friend may be familiar with his tendencies.

Nearly four years ago, Tennessee football began its downward slide under Butch Jones with a loss at USC when Jake Bentley started his first game for them. That eliminated the Vols from SEC East contention in 2016 and dropped them to 5-3 despite a 5-0 start and top 10 ranking. Jalen Hurd transferred out the following week, and Jones’ program never recovered.

Now, a new quarterback is starting his first game for the Gamecocks. In order to win, the Vols will have to overcome that past plus their past against Muschamp, against whom they have a 1-7 record. They at least got their first win last year against him.