Why freshman QB Landon Duckworth won one of USC football’s unique spring awards
.JPG "South Carolina's Landon Duckworth during a 2026 spring football practice.")
Last week — as is the case every year — South Carolina released its spring award winners just before the Gamecocks wrapped up their 15th spring practice of 2026.
There are, of course, the obvious awards given out to the top offensive (RB Matthew Fuller), defensive (S Payton Williams) and special teams player (LB Justin Okoronkwo) of the spring. But there are other, more niche awards that the coaching staff hands out.
Like the “South Carolina spirit award.”
“The way we explain it to the team,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said of the spirit award, “is it’s the guys who kind of approach practice each and every day with the right mindset with how they wanna do things and what they want to be about.”
Knowing that, it was a tad surprising that one of the winners was an 18-year-old freshman who’s been with the program for less than four months. But freshman quarterback Landon Duckworth, a former four-star recruit from Jackson, Alabama, has already impressed the coaching staff with his passion.
Despite the fact that Duckworth has mainly been getting the reps of a third-stringer — behind starter LaNorris Sellers and backup Cutter Woods — he seems to revel in celebrating his teammates.
This is perhaps best seen in the film sessions after practice.
You see, since new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles has been in Columbia, South Carolina’s quarterbacks have worn Go-Pro cameras on their helmets during practices. The thought behind it: Instead of quarterbacks just watching their reps from a bird’s-eye view, they can rewatch plays from their eye line. What the coaches and quarterbacks have learned, thanks to Duckworth, is that the Go-Pros also pick up sound.
“Even if Landon wasn’t in the game, you heard him on the audio,” Beamer said. “LaNorris throws a touchdown pass, you hear Landon. Matthew Fuller has a long run, here comes Landon running onto the field and getting in the face of LaNorris, and talking trash on the camera to somebody on defense.”
There were some questions about Duckworth’s loyalty to South Carolina during the eleventh hour of his recruitment, when it was reported on signing day that LSU and its new coach, Lane Kiffin, had begun to lure Duckworth out of his Gamecock commitment. Duckworth’s official signing was delayed a day, but he ultimately honored his pledge to South Carolina.
Through his first spring in Columbia, Duckworth is already proving to be a positive force inside the program.
“Landon is just a guy who loves to play the game of football,” Beamer said. “We just like his spirit, his energy, the way he works and approaches each and every day. He’s a good young player with a lot of energy.”
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 7:15 AM with the headline "Why freshman QB Landon Duckworth won one of USC football’s unique spring awards."
