How Xavier Legette was bright spot for South Carolina on difficult night in Charlotte
South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette admitted it: He expected to have to carry the load Saturday night.
“It’s a big moment for me, man” Legette said after the 31-17 loss to North Carolina. “With Juice (Wells) being down, I’m the only one, so I had to put it on display.”
The Gamecocks went in to the game expecting Wells, an All-SEC player in 2022, to be somewhat limited by a foot injury. He gave it a go but couldn’t play most of the night. Then the team’s third starter Ahmarean Brown left the game with an undisclosed injury.
Surrounded by less-experienced guys, Legette delivered 178 yards on nine catches, easily a career-best performance.
“He had a great game, and I didn’t expect anything else from him,” USC quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “He’s had the best camp so far, the best summer and he’s our WR1 right now.”
That total was the 13th most in school history. It also eclipsed the yardage total he posted in any of his four previous seasons on campus.
It wasn’t just the yards on Saturday — but the way he did it.
Gone was the sometimes drop-prone player from previous seasons. Several times he skied over defenders to haul in one-on-one jump balls. He shook a few defensive backs after the catch. He even played security blanket when a harried Rattler shoveled the ball ahead on the run, and Legette broke into space for a big gain.
“All along, we’ve got so much confidence in Legette,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said. “We know what kind of player he is. We saw that last season on special teams, the catch he had in the bowl game.
“He went up and made plays and we love the way he competes.”
It seemed like a big step for a player who came to Columbia as a raw, small-school athlete and always seemed like he hadn’t quite harnessed his physical gifts. He’s been a regular rotation player, but never quite a game-changing factor.
Through camp, coaches and teammates said that light had come on, and under the lights of Bank of America Stadium, he shone as a bright spot on a difficult night.
“Like I told y’all, I put the time in for this,” Legette said. “And it’s time for that, time for me to ball out.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2023 at 9:00 AM.