South Carolina football's 2024 assault on the record books

The 2024 season isn’t over yet. However, South Carolina football’s 9-3 regular season has been a wild (and mostly enjoyable) ride that Gamecock fans will remember forever. Along the way, thanks to big-time statistical performances and a return to winning ways, USC has had to rewrite some of its history. There is one game remaining, so some of these records or near-records could shift by the end of the year.

Let’s take a look at the 2024 Gamecocks’ assault on the record books.

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Team

South Carolina has won nine games in 2024 with one more opportunity left to play (the Gamecocks will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve). In the history of the program, that’s only happened seven other times.

If Carolina were to beat Illinois, that would move this year’s win total to 10. That would mark just the fifth time in history a Gamecock team reached double-digit victories.

Shane Beamer’s team also posted six wins by at least 21 points this season. That is the second most in South Carolina football history and the most since 1987.

Both defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway and punter Kai Kroeger have played in 60 career games. That ties former kicker Parker White for the most games played in team history.

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Offense

The Gamecock offense wasn’t elite in 2024. However, as the entire team turned the corner after a 3-3 start, so did the offense. Much of that started with quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

Sellers had a November to remember. The redshirt freshman broke the South Carolina record (previously held by Jake Bentley) for touchdowns in a single month, totaling 16 scores in the calendar’s 11th month. He also was one shy of tying Steve Taneyhill’s mark of 14 passing touchdowns in a single month.

Sellers also was the only FBS quarterback to pass and rush for 150 yards in a single game this season. He did so when it mattered most, too, beating the rival Clemson Tigers with his dominant performance.

In that same Clemson game, Sellers broke 18 tackles. That’s the most broken tackles ever by a quarterback in the PFF statistical tracking era. It also was the second most (regardless of position) of any player this season.

No. 16’s five touchdown passes against Missouri matched a number only accomplished eight other times in USC history. Only Spencer Rattler (six against Tennessee in 2022) has thrown for more scores in one game.

Sellers’ 398 yards of offense against Missouri also is the eight-highest total ever produced in garnet and black.

Barring disaster, LaNorris Sellers will break Todd Ellis’ single-season freshman record for total yards. He is 46 yards shy of Ellis with 2929 yards passing and rushing combined. He is three passing touchdowns short of Ellis’ freshman record (20), and he already owns the total quarterback touchdown marks among freshmen (24).

Tight end Josh Simon quietly matched a South Carolina tight end record, as well. With six touchdown receptions, he matched Clyde Bennett’s mark set back in the 1950s. No other tight ends have caught six TD passes in a Gamecock uniform.

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Defense

South Carolina senior EDGE Kyle Kennard (who just won the Nagurski Trophy as the top defensive player in college football) pushed his way onto some all-time lists this season.

Kennard finished the regular season with 11.5 sacks. Only Jadeveon Clowney’s 13 quarterback stops in 2012 are better in Gamecock history. Kennard is now one of just four players to reach double-digit sacks in Columbia, joining Clowney, Melvin Ingram, and Andrew Provence. It’s worth mentioning that Kennard had a sack wiped out of the box score thanks to an accepted holding penalty, too.

Dylan Stewart has 6.5 sacks on the year. That is 1.5 shy of Jadeveon Clowney’s freshman record of eight. Stewart could reach or pass Clowney depending on how the bowl game goes.

As a team, South Carolina is two sacks away from tying 2012’s all-time mark of 42.

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Special Teams

Kai Kroeger is averaging 47.6 yards per punt this season. Joseph Charlton averaged 47.7 yards in 2019. With a good bowl game, Kroeger will become the single-season Gamecock record holder for punt average. Kroeger is almost locked into place as the second most prolific career punter (in terms of average distance) behind Charlton.

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