'Other' South Carolina running backs ready for chances when needed
Rocket Sanders is “the” guy in the Gamecocks backfield this season, the team’s first true workhorse running back since the days of Kevin Harris.
But the Arkansas transfer missed most of the Akron game after getting twisted up by a defender while blocking. This forced Shane Beamer to go with a committee approach for the rest of the game.
The last three quarters were a look into what the running back room could look like if Sanders were ever to miss additional time.
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JuJu McDowell is the most familiar name of the group, having been with the Gamecocks for the entirety of the Beamer era. Used mostly as a change-of-pace option out of the backfield and kick returner, the 5’9” back has had over 35 total touches each year from 2021-23.
“I just pride myself, I was raised like that, I grew up in the game like that, grew up in real deep Southern ball, so I’ve always been priding myself in doing whatever I can to help the team win,” McDowell said. “As far as roles and positions and this and that, I’m not sure. If coach asks me to do something, I’ll do it.”
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Additionally, there might not be a limit to how far McDowell would go to secure his team a win.
“I told y’all before, you might see at left guard,” he said, jokingly.
Oscar Adaway III received the most carries in lieu of Sanders in the Akron matchup. The sixth-year Arkansas native started his career at North Texas in 2019. While with the Mean Green, he played four seasons. (However, he missed the 2021 campaign due to an ACL injury.)
For his career, he amassed over 2,000 yards from scrimmage. A bigger back and one more fitting Sanders’s mold, Adaway is listed at six feet even, 223 pounds. When compared to McDowell’s 5-foot-9, 184-pound frame, Adaway has more of a “lead back” size.
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After Rocket’s injury, Adaway had 14 carries on the ground, tallying 42 yards and scoring twice, his first two touchdowns in garnet and black, garnering praise from McDowell.
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“I was proud, man. Especially over the recent years, we’ve been getting a lot of bash, not only with the offense but with the running back group,” McDowell said. “And with the things going in the running back room, we had to ask some guys to step up, some guys that haven’t really maybe not got as many reps through the beginning of the season and made as great of an impact as we could ask.”
The running backs McDowell referenced (Bradley Dunn, Jawarn Howell, and Matthew Fuller) combined for 15 carries and 68 yards on the ground.
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Dunn, a Columbia native, had five career carries going into the Akron matchup. However, the redshirt senior has been a part of the team since walking on in 2020 as a freshman. In 2022, Dunn was on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Jawarn Howell was the MEAC Rookie of the Year last season in Orangeburg for South Carolina State. He averaged 7.9 YPC for the Bulldogs, and found the endzone for the first time as a Gamecock against Akron.
Matthew Fuller, a freshman out of Jesup, Georgia, recorded eight carries in his first action at South Carolina. He ended up with 25 yards on the night. Fuller’s rank, according to On3, was the 20th-best RB in the Class of 2024.
