Where South Carolina football players stack up among SEC statistical leaders

Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team is 4-3 and 2-3 in the SEC so far in 2024. Following a bye this Saturday, the Gamecocks have five games remaining on the schedule.

Listed below are South Carolina’s individual statistical leaders as they relate to the rest of the SEC.

Passing

South Carolina’s passing numbers don’t compare favorably to the rest of the SEC. It is worth noting that LaNorris Sellers has missed nearly two full games with injuries.

Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers ranks 14th in the SEC in passing yards with 968. He is 19th in the league in passing touchdowns with 5. His 62.9% completion efficiency is 9th among passers with at least 140 attempts.

Backup Robby Ashford has added 301 yards passing, good for 23rd in the league. Ashford remains tied for 22nd with two touchdown tosses.

David Beville (1) also is one of the league’s 27 players with a touchdown pass.

Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart leads the SEC with 2384 yards and a 70.2% completion rate. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier is 1st in passing touchdowns with 18.

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Rushing

The running game has been better in Columbia this year after an all-time worst showing in 2023. However, other than the singular effort of Rocket Sanders and the scrambling ability of LaNorris Sellers, Carolina hasn’t gotten much accomplished on the ground.

Gamecock running back Rocket Sanders is 8th in the conference in rushing yardage. His 426 yards have come with some minor usage limitations due to injuries keeping him out of most of the Akron contest and limiting him against Ole Miss.

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers has 247 yards on the ground, good for 27th in the SEC. However, he has lost 180 yards on minus plays (primarily sacks).

Robby Ashford (183 yards; T-35th) and Oscar Adaway (103 yards; 53rd) are the only other Gamecocks with 100 yards rushing.

Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson paces the conference with 838 yards and also with 17 scores on the ground.

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Receiving

South Carolina only has two players (one tight end and one receiver) anywhere close to the SEC leaderboard in any receiving categories.

Wide receiver Mazeo Bennett is tied for 32nd in the Southeastern Conference in receiving yards with 270. He also is tied for 36th with 19 catches but tied for 10th with three touchdowns.

Tigh end Josh Simon is outside the top 50 in yardage but ranks tied for 32nd with 20 receptions. He is one of 47 SEC pass-catchers with multiple touchdown grabs.

Wide receivers Vandrevius Jacobs (10/170), Gage Larvadain (10/145), Nyck Harbor (11/104/1), and Jared Brown (8/103) are the only other players with 100 yards receiving on the roster.

Ole Miss’ Tre Harris leads the SEC with 59 catches and 987 yards. Alabama freshman Ryan Williams is out front with 7 touchdowns.

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Tackles

South Carolina’s defense has been very good this fall, and multiple Gamecocks are among the league leaders in tackles.

Safety Nick Emmanwori is tied for 9th in total tackles with 49 stops.

Linebackers Debo Williams (40; T-19th), Bam Martin-Scott (36; T-30th), and Demetrius Knight (36; T-30th) also rank highly.

Defensive tackle TJ Sanders (29; T-58th), safety DQ Smith (28; T-64th), cornerback O’Donnell Fortune (25; T-80th), and nickel Jalon Kilgore (23; T-97th) are inside the top 100 in the SEC.

Mississippi State safety Isaac Watts and LSU linebacker Whit Weeks each have 68 tackles to be tied for the top spot in the Southeastern Conference.

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Sacks and Tackles for Loss

Defensive Coordinator Clayton White’s unit has been among the best in college football at making stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Defensive end Kyle Kennard is the SEC leader in sacks with 8.5. The EDGE player also ranks first in the league with 14 tackles for loss.

Freshman EDGE Dylan Stewart is tied for 8th in the conference with 4.5 quarterback sacks. He also is tied for 9th in tackles for loss as he has seven stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Defensive tackles Tonka Hemingway (3; T-20th) and TJ Sanders (2; T-35th) and linebacker Demetrius Knight (2; T-35th) also are in the SEC’s top 50 in sacks.

EDGE players Bryan Thomas, Jr. (1.5), Gilber Edmond (1), and Jatius Geer (1), linebacker Bam Martin-Scott (1.5), defensive tackle Rondarius Porter (1), and cornerback Vicari Swain (1) all have logged at least one sack this season. Linebacker Debo Williams and EDGE Desmond Umeozulu each have earned one-half sack.

Linebackers Demetrius Knight, (5.5), Bam Martin-Scott (5), and Debo Williams (3) and defensive tackles Tonka Hemingway (3) and Tonka Hemingway (3) also have at least three tackles for loss.

Behind Kennard, second place in sacks is LSU’s Brayden Swinson and second place in tackles for loss is Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton.

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Turnovers, Passes Defended, and Defensive Miscellaneous

Game-changing plays have been a common occurrence for the 2024 South Carolina defense.

Safety Nick Emmanwori leads the SEC with four interceptions. He also is the only player in the league with multiple defensive touchdowns.

Nickel Jalon Kilgore has three interceptions, tying him for 2nd as one of just six SEC defenders with that many picks.

Cornerback O’Donnell Fortune is one of 14 players in the league with at least two picks.

Cornerback Judge Collier has knocked away 5 passes. Because of that, he is tied for 6th in the SEC.

Nickel Jalon Kilgore (3; T-26th), defensive tackle Boogie Huntley (2; T-45th), cornerback O’Donnell Fortune (2; T-45th), and safeties Nick Emmanwori (2; T-45th) and DQ Smith (2; T-45th) all have knocked away multiple passes during the 2024 season.

DQ Smith (1) is the only other Gamecock with an interception so far this season.

Forced fumble statistics are not as accurately kept. However, EDGE players Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart, linebackers Demetrius Knight and Bam Martin-Scott, and defensive back/special teamer David Bucey all have knocked multiple footballs loose this year.

Defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway also returned a fumble for a touchdown this year.

Tight end Moe Brown has blocked a punt, defensive tackle DeAndre Jules has blocked a PAT, and defensive end Kyle Kennard has forced a safety.

Following Emmanwori’s interception total, five players (including teammate Jalon Kilgore) have three picks, tying them all for second place. Ten other players (including Gamecock Tonka Hemingway) have a defensive touchdown but trail Emmanwori’s pair of scores.

Ole Miss cornerback Tre Amos leads the conference in passes defended with nine.

***All statistics sourced from ESPN.com, NCAA.com, gamecocksonline.com, and SECsports.com

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