South Carolina running backs preparing for bowl game without top playmaker
South Carolina’s running back situation for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl is becoming clearer.
Monday, tailback Kevin Harris assured reporters that he will play in the bowl game as rumors have swirled that he’s contemplating turning pro at the end of this season.
Fellow running back ZaQuandre White, though, appears to have concluded his Gamecocks career after he announced he’d be entering the NFL Draft last week.
“No,” Harris said when asked if White was practicing with South Carolina at the moment. “He’s gone.”
That White and Harris’ situations both for bowl season and going forward are nearing a conclusion gives South Carolina a level of clarity heading into what should be an eventful offseason for Shane Beamer and his staff.
White was a revelation midway through the season as he shouldered the rushing load for the Gamecocks down the stretch. In a four game swing against Texas A&M, Florida, Missouri and Auburn, he averaged seven yards per touch and notched over 300 yards.
The former Florida State signee finished the year as South Carolina’s leading rusher, recording 583 yards and two touchdowns on 88 touches. He added another 196 yards and three scores on 18 receptions.
“Z White been balling, man. And, you know, Z white has really good size. He has really good speed. I mean, his cutting ability is really good,” running backs coach Montario Hardesty said in the spring. “I always say he got that ‘Florida Stick.’ He from Florida, he got that stick, he got that dead leg stick right on him. But he has really good hands out of the backfield.”
Harris’ situation is perhaps a bit more complicated than that of White. The Georgia native smirked when asked whether he’d made a decision to go pro or not, noting he’d announce his intentions at a later date.
The 2021 season wasn’t exactly kind to Harris. He missed time during fall camp due to an undisclosed illnesss and underwent an offseason back procedure that held him out of the opener against Eastern Illinois.
In the 11 games that Harris did play, he looked labored at times as he recovered from the back injury. There were spurts of the form he flashed a season ago when he led the SEC in rushing and bowled over opposing defenses with ease, but they were fewer and further between.
Harris finished the year recording just 3.93 yards per carry behind an offensive line that had its own set of issues. By contrast, the former three-star tailback averaged over six yards per touch a season ago. He concluded the year with 475 yards and three touchdowns on 122 touches.
“I learned that I’m always going to come back and do better,” Harris said Tuesday when asked what he learned about himself this season.
With Harris still slated to play in the bowl game and White more than likely done with South Carolina, MarShawn Lloyd and Juju McDowell figure to be in line for more touches when the Duke’s Mayo Bowl comes around at the end of this month.
Lloyd has shown moments of brilliance, but is still coming off a freshman season in which a torn ACL ended his year before it could even begin. McDowell, too, has been a sparkplug for the USC offense and his 4.17 yards per carry this year are the second-best out of the Gamecocks’ top four rushers.
“I feel — not comfortable because I never want to get complacent — but I’m proud of the position that I’m in, especially being surrounded by the caliber of backs that we have in our running back room,” McDowell said in September after USC’s win over East Carolina. “So I take it as quite the accomplishment just being able to step on the field with those guys.”
While White is off to the pro ranks and Harris could soon follow, leading receiver Josh Vann was spotted at practice on Monday during the portion open to the media.
Vann hasn’t officially announced that he is returning next fall, but early indications point to the former four-star recruit who had a breakout year in 2021 coming back for another run under Shane Beamer and his staff.
For now, it remains a touch cloudy as to who might depart Columbia for the NFL draft. But as the days wear on, the picture is becoming clearer.
2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl details
Who: South Carolina (6-6) vs North Carolina (6-6)
When: 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 30
Where: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
TV: ESPN
Line: North Carolina by 8.5
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 1:58 PM.
