Shane Beamer on Nyck Harbor's involvement in South Carolina's offense: 'We want to scheme stuff for him'
Before the 2024 season began, Nyck Harbor was pegged as not only the biggest athletic marvel on South Carolina, but also the entirety of college football.
Bruce Feldman, a national writer who currently works for The Athletic, placed Harbor at the top of his college football Freaks List. In doing so, Harbor became the first player to top the list two seasons in a row.
Game developers at EA are also familiar with Harbor’s physical abilities. His speed and acceleration ratings (99) are the highest of any player in the College Football 25 video game, making him a “cheat code” of sorts.
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But those preseason accolades have not translated into increase opportunities for playing time early in the regular season.
Harbor played 27 snaps against Old Dominion on Saturday. One of those snaps was in the slot, while the other were out wide. He was also on the field for punt return and kick coverage duties throughout the contest.
His contributions on the offensive side of the football were limited, too. Harbor was targeted twice against the Monarchs, but neither pass was completed. He did, however, record a touchdown-saving tackle after LaNorris Sellers fumbled the ball early in the second quarter.
Harbor’s lack of on-field action does not stem from a lack of effort on his part. Snaps can only be split in a few ways with 11 offensive players on the field at a time. And being part of a deep wide receiver room only makes those opportunities fewer and farther between.
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With so many mouths to feed on offense, choosing who gets to play has been a difficult decision for Shane Beamer and his staff. Beamer said there are many players — including Harbor — who he’d like to integrate more into South Carolina’s offense.
“We want to scheme stuff for him. We’ve got a lot of guys that we need to get touches, if you will, and try and find ways to get the ball in their hands, whether it be the running back position, tight end (or receiver. But Nyck – there’s no question about that,” Beamer said.
“He’s a guy that presents a lot of problems to defenses, even if it’s just the threat of him running past people and catching deep balls. We’ve got to continue to. We certainly have in the past, and we’ll continue to, also.”
Harbor appeared in all 12 of South Carolina’s games last season, starting in five of them. He caught 12 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown, a seven-yard completion from Sellers against Furman. That score also served as Harbor’s first-ever college reception.
Before committing to the Gamecocks, Harbor was the No. 21 recruit in the class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. The service listed him as the No. 1 athlete and player in the Washington, D.C., area.
South Carolina will be at Kentucky on Saturday for its first SEC contest of the year. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
