COLUMBIA  — Hut, hut, hike — and hope.

Clemson and South Carolina both open football practice Tuesday with major questions at quarterback and fan bases hopeful young players will quickly solidify the positions.

The Tigers and new coach Dabo Swinney will likely watch sophomore Willy Korn and freshman Kyle Parker battle for the starting job throughout fall camp.

Gamecock coach Steve Spurrier may have fewer worries with sophomore Stephen Garcia apparently ready to assume control. Spurrier was tough on his young player — when Garcia wasn’t suspended — the past two years. But the Gamecocks head ball coach says the lessons are finally taking root.

Just recently, Spurrier pulled out tape of South Carolina’s spring game and liked what he saw so much, he had to call Garcia that night.

“I said, ’You know what, you actually looked pretty good in the spring game. You took your steps, had your head in the right position, one time you stepped up and hit Dion (LeCorn) on a little short corner route, instead of taking off running,”’ Spurrier said. “I said, ’Last year you would have just taken off running anywhere.”’

As Spurrier would readily tell you, that wasn’t good.

Garcia played eight games last year, three as a starter, and never found consistency. He was the Southeastern Conference’s freshman of the week after helping South Carolina to victory at Kentucky. Yet given the starting assignment for the Outback Bowl and weeks to prepare, Garcia stunk it up with three interceptions in a 31-10 loss to Iowa.

Part of Spurrier’s plan to bring Garcia along was hiring former Florida quarterback and assistant, G.A. Mangus.

Mangus has become a teacher of Spurrier’s system and, at times, a confidant for Garcia. The two showed up at the same Sister Hazel concert last winter, leading to message-board talk that Mangus was shadowing the sometimes troubled passer. Mangus says he hasn’t had to.

Garcia’s been attentive, on time and hard working. His grades have improved, along with his maturity, the coach said.

Garcia had better be ready to lead the Gamecocks since behind him are players who have not taken a college snap in Reid McCollum, Zac Brindise and Aramis Hillary. Spurrier also plans to use freshman Stephon Gilmore, listed as a starter in the secondary, in a “Wild Gamecock” formation.

If Clemson uses two quarterbacks this season, it likely won’t be by design.

The Tigers have rarely had such uncertainty at quarterback the past decade. From Woody Dantzler at the start of the decade to four-year starter Charlie Whitehurst through most recent leader Cullen Harper the past two years, Clemson’s has had a steady of stream of unquestioned offensive leaders.

With Harper gone, Clemson enters the season with as inexperienced a group as its had in a while. Korn played his high-school ball about an hour away at state powerhouse Byrnes and, after committing to the Tigers before his junior year, was the fan favorite to lead the team. He seemingly got his chance last fall, named to the starting job over Harper just days before coach Tommy Bowden’s midseason departure and Swinney’s elevation.

But Korn was in only briefly, suffering a bone bruise after a hit by Georgia Tech defender Derrick Morgan. Korn has surgery in December and has recently shown the same zip on the ball he had coming to Clemson.

“I’m at 100 percent,” Korn said. “It feels good, it feels like I’ve got good velocity and I feel like I’m performing pretty well” during summer voluntary workouts.

Parker has already thrilled fans with his bat as Clemson’s designated hitter with 26 homers and 102 RBIs the past two seasons. Now, he’s ready to show them what he can do at Death Valley. Parker threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the Tigers’ spring game, a performance that most who watched thought gave him an edge on the job.

Still, Swinney has played it coy, telling media at the Atlantic Coast Conference football gathering last week that he’d named

“Kyle Korn” his starter.

Swinney says it may take one game or several to sort out the situation. And no matter who comes out on top, the coach points out, they’re a first-year player short on game experience.

“Whatever decision we make is not a final decision,” Swinney said. The starter “has to go play and be productive. There’s still another good player on the sideline, no matter who wins the job.”

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