Former South Carolina defender Ryan Hilinski is transferring to Northwestern. He announced the news Tuesday night via social media.
I couldn’t be more excited and grateful for this opportunity. Go Cats! ?? pic.twitter.com/OX1g0CNzEK
– Ryan Hilinski (@ryan_hilinski) January 19, 2021
Hilinski entered the transfer portal on December 30. After starting 11 games as a real freshman in 2019, Hilinski didn’t start any of South Carolina’s 10 games played in 2020. He played in two games and went 4 out of 6 (66.7 percent) for 34 yards. He lost the quarterback’s initial battle at the pre-season camp to graduate from Collin Hill’s transfer. When Hill was eliminated in the second half of game eight, against Missouri, interim coach, offensive coordinator and defender coach Mike Bobo called freshman Luke Doty to play. Doty started the last two games of the season.
A 2019 All-American high school class, the 247Sports Composite ranked Hilinski (Orange, California / Orange Lutheran) as the country’s 64th overall position and second as a professional quarterback. He committed to South Carolina in a final group that also included Arizona, Arizona, Georgia, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M. He remained committed despite the post-promised offers from the state of Ohio, Stanford’s childhood dream school and local schools Southern Cal and UCLA.
Here’s a complete recap of Hilinski’s freshman season, courtesy of GamecocksOnline.com
Enrolled in January and went through spring exercises … started autumn competing for the number 2 flag behind Jake Bentley … was pushed into the starting role in Game 2 against Charleston Southern after Bentley suffered a foot injury at the end of the season in the final play of the North Carolina contest … each of the final 11 games of the season began … completed 236 of 406 passes (58.1 percent) for 2,357 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. .. average 214.3 passing yards per game, sixth in the general SEC and tops among SEC freshmen, and 209.3 total attack yards, eighth in general conference and third among freshmen … tied with quarterback records school freshmen for matches (11), while setting new marks for passing and attempting conclusions … also defined the marks for a true freshman in yards and passing touchdowns … when he received the call against Charleston Southern in week 2, he became only the sixth true freshman to start as a defender for Gamecocks since joining the SEC, joining Steve Taneyhill (1992), Mikal Goodman (1999), Lorenzo Nuñez (2015), Brandon McIlwain (2016) and Jake Bentley (2016 ).
He made his debut against Charleston Southern by hitting his first 12 passes and ended the 24th of 30 to 282 yards with a pair of touchdowns … followed by 36-to-57, 324 yards and two performance touchdowns against Alabama, winning awards for SEC freshman of the week … became only the second freshman in the history of the program to launch more than 300 yards against an SEC opponent, joining Todd Ellis, who launched 342 yards against Georgia in 1986 … the 57 pass attempts were the second most in a single game in the school’s history, surpassed only by the 58 that Steve Taneyhill played against East Carolina in 1994, while the 36 submissions occupy the third place in the school’s history, surpassed only by Taneyhill on two occasions – 39 vs. ECU in 94 and 38 vs. Mississippi State in 1995 … recorded his second set of 300 yard passes in Tennessee, completing 28 from 51 to 319 yards … recorded his third 300 yard performance when he completed 30 of 57 passes for 325 yards, the maximum of season, against the Appalachian State.
He became only the second freshman (joining Ellis) and the first real freshman to launch more than 300 yards on three occasions … he is already tied for seventh in school history with Connor Shaw and Tommy Suggs with three games passing 300 yards a career … between playing pick-sixes in Missouri and again against Appalachian State, he released a school record of 180 passes without an interception, breaking the previous record of 177, set by Shaw … nominated for the SEC Academic First Year Academic Honor List.