If South Carolina loses Ty’Son Williams, here’s what it might mean for the backfield

South Carolina’s Ty’Son Williams put his name in the NCAA transfer portal, which doesn’t guarantee he’ll leave USC, but it certainly points to that.

So what might that mean for South Carolina’s backfield?

The Gamecocks went into the 2019 offseason looking to sort through a group heavy on options but short on guaranteed answers. If Williams leaves, that removes one of four potential seniors from the group.

The first and most notable impact would be to make it less likely A.J. Turner focuses his attention on defense. The do-everything Virginia product spent the end of the season chipping in at corner, even playing a fair amount of it late in the bowl loss.

Turner has occupied an unusual role with USC. He started as a freshman ahead of the more talented David Williams. And even as the team added more backs, such as Wiliams and Rico Dowdle, Turner often seemed to find a role.

An injury and then a concussion limited Turner at points in 2018, but he managed to finish with 294 rushing yards at 6.4 yards per carry, plus eight catches for 75 yards. That’s despite not being able to register a carry in the final three games.

Turner has said he wants to go both ways, and the staff likes him on nearly every special teams group.

Beyond him, Dowdle returns as the team’s top rusher despite a smattering of injuries, and Mon Denson posted 432 yards in his fourth year in the program. The staff wanted someone to take the No. 1 spot, with Dowdle getting the first crack most often, but he has yet to assert himself fully in that role.

Then comes the question of how much work the three younger backs will get.

Deshaun Fenwick had 112 yards in a blowout of Chattanooga and boasts a solid blend of size and speed. Lavonte Valentine never saw the field, but he was a high school state sprinting champion and people around the team spoke highly of what he’s shown in meetings. Valentine tore his ACL late in his high school career.

Then there’s Kevin Harris, a burly incoming freshman from Georgia. He ran for more than 1,600 yards as a senior and was one of the top six rushers in that state.

New running backs coach Thomas Brown said his aim is to winnow the group to a pair of top backs. He was part of a deep rotation at Georgia and doesn’t want to replicate the arrangement.

“I was not a big fan of that,” Brown said. “I don’t think anybody in the room was a big fan of that.”

South Carolina’s run game finds itself in a peculiar spot. It hasn’t been particularly productive, ranking 10th in yards per carry and 12th in total yards in the SEC last season.

The shift toward a run-pass option heavy attack by nature tends to push teams toward throwing more, and USC ranked 105th in how often it ran in non-passing situations. But Will Muschamp at times also demanded a more “hard-headed” approach to running the ball (he also beseeched his backs to break more tackles).

For the moment, what appeared to be a logjam might be a little less of one. The Gamecocks still have three veteran options, plus three young ones, as they search for a top two Brown wants.