Urban Meyer, Reggie Bush expect big things early from South Carolina’s MarShawn Lloyd
South Carolina tailback MarShawn Lloyd has a chance to make a big impact for South Carolina in his first season on campus. And he’s got a couple of the biggest names in recent college football history as believers.
Fox Sports had its analysts compile lists of projected top-5 impact freshmen for the coming season. Lloyd appeared at No. 3 on a pair of analysts; lists: Urban Meyer and Reggie Bush.
Meyer won three national titles and won 85% of his games. He helped revolutionize college football offenses, propagating the spread option at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He is also considered one of the best recruiters in the history of the sport.
Bush was one of the most explosive play-makers in the history of the sport, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2005. The two-time consensus All-American was the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft and was an All-Pro return man with a pair of 1,000-yard seasons.
Lloyd impressed coaches and teammates in an abbreviated spring practice, and in a backfield replacing it’s top three rushers, he looks to have a good chance to start. The Gamecocks boast a veteran offensive line and questions at receivers, so Lloyd could be in line for a lot of work.
As a high school senior, he ran 1,197 yards, including a career-high 326 yard game. He also had six receptions for 138 yards, three touchdowns and had a kickoff return for a score. He had one play that made SportsCenter’s Top 10, where he hurdled one defender, broke another tackle and was off to the races.
Only one Gamecocks freshman, Marcus Lattimore, has surpassed 1,000 yards. He put up 1,197 and 17 touchdowns, winning national freshman of the year and surpassing Thomas Dendy’s 848 yards. Rob DeBoer, Brandon Bennett and Rico Dowdle are other Gamecocks tailbacks who had more than 700 yards as freshmen.
The structure of South Carolina’s season is still in flux, with questions about the status of non-conference football and fall football overall.
