USC backfield set for new look. There’s plenty of promise, departing runners say
This was always going to be a season of transition in South Carolina’s backfield.
Four running backs were seniors, including the top three rushers in Rico Dowdle, Mon Denson and Tavien Feaster. After Lavonte Valentine decided to transfer during the summer (he ended up at USF), only two scholarship backs were set to return.
But USC’s departing runners are excited to see what’s next.
“I see a bright future in them,” Dowdle said. “I know they got a good guy, MarShawn (Lloyd) coming in. A good recruit, five-star recruit. We still have Kevin (Harris) and Deshaun (Fenwick) returning. Deshaun, I think he played in two games. Had two 100-yard games when he played. Kevin played, six carries, 147 yards when he played. I think they’ve got a bright future. Looking forward to watching them.”
Harris was a star in the spring but missed much of the season with a torn ligament in his groin. That 147-yard day, against FCS Charleston Southern, comprises the bulk of his 179 yards and four touchdowns on the season.
Fenwick only played in five games, but his effort against Vanderbilt included 102 yards on 18 carries.
Each of the returning backs is bigger (both are 230 pounds), while Lloyd, a top-50 national recruit, is a bit smaller and shiftier.
Those three, fellow incoming freshman Rashad Amos and another running back — maybe junior college recruit ZaQuandre White — will have to fill in for the batch of seniors that combined for 1,416 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Feaster was a late addition last year, joining the team at the start of fall camp. He came in and got to play for first-year running backs coach Thomas Brown, and it’s him who leaves Feaster with a level of confidence of what’s coming next.
“I know they got a guy coaching them who’s gonna lay it all on the line for them, every day,” Feaster said. “He’s going to go out and demand greatness from them everyday. Those two young guys are going to be great. You see the size and the ability they both have when they get into the game. So you know I’m going to be watching throughout their whole careers and I know they’re going to do great things.”
Returning Gamecocks backs
▪ Kevin Harris — 21 carries, 179 yards, four touchdowns in six games as a freshman
▪ Deshaun Fenwick — 43 carries, 226 yards, one touchdown in seven career games
Departing Gamecocks backs
▪ Rico Dowdle — 428 carries, 2,167 yards and 16 touchdowns in 39 games
▪ Tavien Feaster — 124 carries, 672 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games after joining the team as a grad transfer
▪ Mon Denson — 166 carries, 816 yards and seven touchdowns in 31 games
▪ A.J. Turner — 264 carries, 1,336 yards and eight touchdowns in 44 games
Incoming running backs
▪ Rashad Amos — Ran for 1,324 yards and 30 touchdowns as a high school senior and caught 28 passes for 478 yards and six scores.
▪ MarShawn Lloyd — Ran for 1,197 yards in 11 games this year and added 138 more through the air.
