South Carolina's success in run game doesn't come down to one player. It's all 11

These are the weeks when Dowell Loggains knows Rocket Sanders is at his best. He saw it two years ago as the former Arkansas running back ran through the teeth of defenses, and he’s watching it happen again with South Carolina’s offense playing its best football in the month of November.

To say Sanders has hit another gear would be an understatement. He’s looked very much like the player the Gamecocks signed up for when they brought him in from the transfer portal.

Since the calendar turned from Halloween to November, the senior running back has rushed for a combined 270 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games. He’s also become more involved in the passing game with seven catches for 144 yards and a 43-yard touchdown on a screen pass against Vanderbilt last Saturday.

“The more carries he has, the longer he plays, he becomes stronger. He’s hard to tackle,” Loggains said. “So, in November, he’s going to be big for us. He’s going to be huge. He’s been huge the last two weeks, and we need his best game this week because he’s a good player and he’s big and he’s physical.”

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It’d be easy to say Sanders’ success has come all on his own. Just look at the way he cuts and makes his runs turn into big explosive plays. That’s mostly him. But football isn’t a sport where one person can win the game. In this recent stretch, it’s been everyone in South Carolina’s offense playing their part and doing it well.

“It takes 11 guys to gain four yards on a run,” Loggains said. “I always joke with the offense, that’s what’s hard about playing consistent offensive football. It takes 11 guys to get four yards it takes one jerk on defense to make a tackle and blow up a play and get a TFL.”

So, yes, Sanders is the go-to guy in the run game. He’s not the only one to play well, though. LaNorris Sellers has been excellent when he needs to take off and run. Even those behind Sanders, like Oscar Adaway III and Juju McDowell, have been nice compliments to what Sanders does.

There’s also other side to what has worked for this offense: blocking. For as much flack as the offensive line has garnered over the last two seasons, the starting five hasn’t given up a sack since Oct. 19. They’ve also created the holes necessary, along with the receivers and tight ends on the perimeter, to give the run game the space it needs to be impactful.

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In these last two games, South Carolina has ran for 286 and 214 yards, respectively. There have been four games this year where the Gamecocks have rushed for more than 200 yards as a team. And that goes back to all 11 players on the field doing their job.

“Certainly, you look at who is carrying the ball. Anytime you have a quarterback with the ability to run the football, it is going to make your rushing offense, I don’t want to say necessarily better, but have a chance to be a lot more productive because of the element that brings,” head coach Shane Beamer said.

“Offensive line wise, I think those guys are doing some really good things. You have Josiah (Thompson) and Tree (Babalade) playing at left tackle that are young guys. Cason Henry is doing a nice job as a right tackle. Vershon is an older guy that has been around here longer than I have and the fact that he came in 2020. Kamaar (Bell) and Trovon (Baugh) and Torricelli (Simpkins) at the guard position are really good football players right now. It is a good group. We have been able to stay healthy. Got continuity on there, as well.”

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Beyond all that, the players are the ones on the field doing it, but someone has to call plays, right? That’s where Loggains and the rest of the offensive staff come in. Beamer has been pleased with the job they’ve done in helping improve the offense in a short amount of time.

“Give credit to the offensive staff for what they have done from a schematic standpoint whether it be going into the season just some new tweaks in the run game or things that we have added or adjusted during the year, as well,” he said. “I think we have just continued to get better each week. It’s experience, it’s scheme, it’s coaching, it’s talent, it’s all the above.”

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