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Steve Spurrier's comfortable with Dylan Thompson sliding into the spot left by South Carolina's career wins leader in quarterback Connor Shaw.

He's less secure about Thompson's backups right now, saying "we'll have to keep Dylan healthy."

It's not that Spurrier's frustrated or upset with his backups. He just understands talented reserves like Brendan Nosovitch and Connor Mitch haven't had time to shine with Shaw's success the past four seasons. Shaw led the Gamecocks to three straight 11-win seasons and left with a record of 27-5 overall as starter, 17-0 at home.

Thompson is a redshirt senior who's filled in the last two years when Shaw was injured. Thompson attained folk-hero status among Gamecock fans in 2012, leading South Carolina to a 27-17 victory at rival Clemson when Shaw was out.