Why MarShawn Lloyd, Shane Beamer were encouraged by tailback’s long-awaited debut
MarShawn Lloyd knows his assignment.
“Don’t make anything bigger than what it is,” he said. “Just go out there, play football and have fun.”
Sidelined for his first season in Columbia with a left ACL tear, Lloyd dressed in full pads for his Gamecock debut in Saturday’s 46-0 rout of Eastern Illinois. His first two carries were short — a 1-yard run followed by a 2-yard gain — but he said he felt the pregame jitters and needed that first series to get them all out.
Lloyd eventually settled in, breaking free for a 15-yard rush in South Carolina’s third possession. He finished the day with a team-high 14 carries for 55 yards.
He just needed to remember his assignment, able to slow his thoughts down by the second half.
“When you don’t have to think about anything, it makes the game so much easier,” Lloyd said. “When the second half came on, like when I finally started to get into my groove, it felt good because I don’t have to think about anything — just went out there and had fun.”
South Carolina boasts five scholarship running backs on its roster in Lloyd, ZaQuandre White, Juju McDowell, Rashad Amos and 2020 SEC rushing leader Kevin Harris, who was out for the season opener but is expected to be back this week for East Carolina.
Even with Harris returning, head coach Shane Beamer has made it abundantly clear that his addition shouldn’t change too much about each running back’s reps. Beamer said a chunk of the decision boils down to the play offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield calls. Each tailback has a role in the Gamecocks’ scheme.
“It’s not like all of a sudden Kevin Harris is back and those guys are just kicked to the curb,” Beamer told reporters on Monday. “There’s some dynamic running backs in that room, Kevin included. Competition’s a core value of this program. We’re competing in every position.”
Beamer noticed Lloyd had a smile on his face all night against Eastern Illinois. He thought Lloyd looked quick, fast and explosive, but is also looking for him to knock some of the rust off when crammed between tackles. Beamer’s optimistic that will come in time.
Lloyd’s looking for that same improvement. He wants to be stronger near the sideline, more forceful when he’s being pushed out of bounds. He also wants to focus on ball security. Lloyd didn’t fumble on Saturday, but he wants to hold the ball higher and tighter to avoid the risk.
After waiting a year for his first opportunity to take the field at Williams-Brice Stadium, Lloyd is most encouraged by the way he feels. He isn’t held back by the old injury, and he’ll continue carving out his place in South Carolina’s talented backfield.
“I definitely felt like the old MarShawn,” Lloyd said. “It felt good being able to make cuts I didn’t know I could make, being able to stop on a dime and being able to get extra yards. It felt really good being able to be out there.”
