These two South Carolina freshman WRs are standing out among the pack
South Carolina lauded its class of six freshman wide receivers coming into the 2025 season.
At one point before South Carolina’s opener, offensive coordinator Mike Shula said more of the freshman than they expected could be playing early for the Gamecocks.
Shula was true to his word and the group of players — made up of Lex Cyrus, Donovan Murph, Jordan Gidron, Malik Clark, Jayden Sellers and Brian Rowe — have all seen some playing time through the first three games. Granted, Murph and Rowe have seen considerably more time on the field than the rest.
“That receiver group is a work in progress,” Beamer said during his Sunday teleconference. “There’s a lot of true freshmen and there’s returning guys and it’s great competition in that room.”
Let’s break down the distribution of play time South Carolina’s freshmen wide receivers have had this season and the impact they’ve had.
A look at the snap counts
Each of the six freshmen wide receivers has logged a snap on offense this season. Here are their respective totals:
- Donovan Murph: 108 snaps
- Brian Rowe: 73 snaps
- Malik Clark: 14 snaps
- Lex Cyrus: six snaps
- Jayden Sellers: five snaps
- Jordon Gidron: one snap
Junior Nyck Harbor is leading South Carolina’s wide receivers in offensive snaps so far, but Murph is leading all of the freshmen wideouts in playing time, per ProFootballFocus. Murph’s 108 offensive snaps are the second-most amongst wide receivers and the seventh-most amongst the entire team.
Rowe is fourth among wide receivers — behind only Harbor, Murph and redshirt sophomore Vandrevious Jacobs — in offensive snaps and is No. 11 on the team.
Both Murph and Rowe have already cracked the Gamecocks’ starting lineup early in the season.
Murph started in the last two games for South Carolina. The player from Irmo has played in each of South Carolina’s games this season. He recorded a season-high 39 receiving yards on two catches against S.C. State on Sept. 6 in his first start.
Murph is second on the team with 94 receiving yards and tied for third on the team with five receptions.
“Good young player and and all those young receivers are,” Beamer said after the S.C. State game. “...Proud of Donovan. He’s wise or mature beyond his years, and came in there and did some good things tonight.”
Rowe was announced as a starter before the Vanderbilt game but technically wasn’t on the field for the first play of the game. He was targeted six times in the game, the most of any Gamecock. Rowe set a new season-high with three catches for 13 yards.
Who had the most snaps against Vanderbilt?
Rowe and Murph led the wide receivers in offensive snaps played in the Gamecocks’ 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt on Sept. 13. Rowe’s 46 snaps were a career-high and the most of any offensive skill position player in the game. Murph was right behind him with 46 snaps.
Beamer said Rowe’s playmaking ability, combined with a good week of practice, led to his bigger role against Vanderbilt.
“Practice matters,” Beamer said. “Brian had a good week of practice. A lot of guys did, the competition in that room has made everyone better and increased the urgency, there’s no doubt about it. In regards to Brian, he’s been a guy (if) you go back to spring practice, spring game and this preseason he just makes a lot of plays. He had a nice week of practice and showed he can make an impact with the ball in his hands.”
Both Rowe and Murph have seen their playing time increase through the first three games. Murph’s offensive snaps increased from 26 against Virginia Tech to 41 against Vanderbilt while Rowe’s increased from 16 to 46, respectively.
