WILLIAMS-BRICE STADIUM: Quarterback Robby Ashford filled in ably for an injured LaNorris Sellers, guiding the Gamecocks to 549 yards of offense in a 50-7 throttling of Akron, Saturday. Sellers was unavailable, standing on the sideline with a walking boot to accommodate the ankle he injured against LSU.
With Sellers on the shelf, you might have expected South Carolina to rely on its workhorse running back, Raheim Sanders. But that didn’t come to pass, as Sanders was forced out of the game on the Gamecocks’ second offensive drive. Sanders hobbled off in the first quarter after one carry and was outfitted with a walking boot of his own. In his postgame comments, head coach Shane Beamer characterized both Sellers’ and Sanders’ status as “day-to-day.”
The injuries to Sellers and Sanders didn’t seem to slow down the offense, however, as Ashford took advantage of the opportunity by throwing for 243 yards and rushing for 133. Ashford, an Auburn transfer, spread the ball around early, hitting eight different receivers in the first half. Mazeo Bennett, Jr. emerged as his favorite target, catching five passes for 71 yards and a score. Gage Lavardain made a couple of plays on deep shots, catching passes of 44 yards and 35 yards to set up Gamecocks touchdowns.
Ashford also showcased his raw speed, sprinting for a 36-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The USC attack was not explosive, but it was balanced, putting up 276 yards passing to go with 273 yards on the ground.
Despite the absence of Sanders, the Gamecocks ran the ball effectively, averaging 5.2 yards/rush leading to 36:03 of possession.
Edge rusher Kyle Kennard (1.5 TFL) made his presence known, splitting a sack with Debo Williams and consistently getting into Akron’s backfield to disrupt their offensive timing. The Carolina defense forced ten punts and held the Zips to 154 total yards (37 rushing).
On a night that featured a 50-point performance from the USC offense, it would be easy to overlook the contributions of Kai Kroeger, who averaged 53.2 yards on four punts, including a 75-yarder that was downed at the Akron 1. Kroeger also scored a two-point conversion in the first half.
The Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1) will enjoy a bye before embarking on a three-week gauntlet in October. Road contests at Alabama and Oklahoma will follow a home game against highly-ranked Ole Miss on Oct. 5th.
Final Stats
Here’s my view from Williams-Brice Stadium
