Three lingering questions as South Carolina football exits spring season
South Carolina wrapped up spring ball in style on Saturday.
The Garnet team outlasted the Black squad 20-13 in the annual spring football game, held at night for the first time in recent memory.
And while there were a handful of standouts in the scrimmage, there are still questions to be answered as head coach Shane Beamer and his team head into the offseason.
Here’s a look at what still needs to be addressed:
Who will be the Gamecocks’ RB1?
If anything, this is a good problem to have.
South Carolina’s seven running backs who received a carry on Saturday night combined for 195 yards on 38 carries — good for an average of 5.13 yards per touch.
Returners Juju McDowell (six carries, 57 yards) and MarShawn Lloyd (eight carries, 42 yards) led the bunch and ought to remain fixtures in the run game as the fall inches closer.
Wake Forest transfer Christian Beal-Smith’s production (five carries, 18 yards and a touchdown) wasn’t quite as explosive, but he should still factor in.
Lloyd looked closer to the part of the dominant back who torched high school defenses en route to becoming one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits in the class of 2020 class. Lloyd, too, offered the speed and breakaway ability that made him so dangerous as a change-of-pace option last season.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has said he’d like to roll with one lead back this year after divvying up carries between Kevin Harris, ZaQuandre White, Lloyd and McDowell in 2021. Lloyd should still be the leader in the clubhouse, but this group should remain up in the air well into fall camp.
USC still has work to do in pass protection
South Carolina’s offensive line certainly looked better during Saturday night’s affair, albeit in a controlled setting.
The Gamecocks only had more than the 195 yards its running backs accounted for during the spring game twice against FBS competition last year. That much was a win in the spring game.
The bigger problems — if you can even call it that — came in pass protection. Again, it’s a scrimmage, so there’s only so much to be taken from the entire performance. However, starting quarterback Spencer Rattler had to pass under duress during a handful of his 10 throws behind the starting offensive line.
Rattler was sacked four times on the day, while Colten Gauthier and Luke Doty were each sacked once. Not all of those fall on the lines, nor did all of the 31 sacks the Gamecocks surrendered in 13 games last season. But South Carolina is going to have to find a way to keep Rattler upright in 2022 to let the offense matriculate downfield.
Who’s going to replace Parker White at kicker?
Like the running back logjam, this is a competition that still needs to be settled.
Parker White, who was honored on the field during Saturday’s game, left South Carolina as the school’s all-time points leader. It’ll fall on Alex Herrera and Mitch Jeter to replace him.
Jeter has handled kickoff duties for most of the last two last seasons and flashed his leg strength with a game-high 47-yard kick on Saturday. He and Herrera — who drilled a 40-yarder of his own — both finished the night 2 for 2 on field goals.
The Gamecocks don’t need Jeter or Hererra to be White. They simply need whoever wins the competition to be accurate. Expect this position battle to carry over into fall camp and, potentially, beyond if things get hairy during the regular season.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
