Why Will Muschamp is ‘frustrated for’ his starting tailback

A year ago, South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp had some stern words for his starting tailback, Rico Dowdle.

The Gamecocks head man had challenged Dowdle for what seemed to be a lack of self care that was affecting his ability to stay on the field. He again had to battle some injuries to stay on the field last season, but the tone Tuesday in Sumter was a little different.

“We shared the frustration for him,” Muschamp said.

Despite being limited in some games, the coach felt none of that came down to will or effort.

“He’s had legitimate injuries too,” Muschamp said. “It’s nothing that’s been questioning if he’s hurt. He had the groin in the bowl game. He’s had legitimate injuries and it is frustrating.”

Both coach and player said Dowdle had answered the challenge across the offseason. He missed much of this spring with the groin.

Last season, Dowdle led South Carolina with 123 carries and 654 yards. But through the injuries, a deep running back room and South Carolina’s shift toward a more pass-heavy attack, he never managed to assert himself as a clear No. 1 runner.

Through five games, he had 76 carries, but the last two were grinds. After getting only seven carries against Texas A&M, he got 14 against Tennessee, but then had only 26 total carries in the final six contests.

Dowdle had looked like a potential future star as a freshman, overcoming a high school groin injury to carry the load down the stretch (he had 764 yards on 5.7 yards per carry). But he seemed dinged up in the first half of his sophomore season, and a broken bone in his leg put him on the shelf the second half of that season.

The Gamecocks have a new man in charge of the running backs room in Thomas Brown and are searching for a higher level of consistency. The group returns veterans in Dowdle, A.J. Turner and Mon Denson, plus a trio of younger players.

Perhaps Dowdle can finally make good on that potential. If he does, it will bring a little relief for his coach.

“It is frustrating, as much time and effort as these young people put into playing a game that they love, playing a game that they hope they have a future in,” Muschamp said. “And all of a sudden they continue to get a setback, continue to get a setback. But I always believe the good lord puts things in front of you that you can handle. And he has handled these situations extremely well.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 7:10 PM.