Xavier Legette notches breakout game after waiting for opportunity

Immediately after playing his best game, Xavier Legette knew he still had unfinished business at South Carolina. With an extra year of eligibility, he said he’ll be back for his fifth season.

“I still want to come back, man. I just want to do more for me,” Legette said. “Feel like I haven’t done that. I showed a couple flashes and I had a couple drops, but I feel like I need to do more.”

The senior wide receiver caught seven passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns against Notre Dame in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. He previously caught a career-high five passes against Appalachian State in 2019.

Legette’s first touchdown came on the Gamecocks’ opening drive when Spencer Rattler threw him a quick screen pass. With two blockers in front, he tiptoed down the sideline for a 13-yard score.

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However, his second touchdown proved to be more important.

Midway through the third quarter, Rattler threw on the run, finding an open Legette behind two defenders. Legette leaped and dove in the endzone, managing to snag the pass and get one foot down. His 42-yard touchdown reception gave South Carolina a 31-24 lead.

“When I caught it, I saw that I had full possession,” Legette said. “I looked down and saw that my foot was in between the lines, and I knew it was a touchdown.”

After making the catch, Legette popped to his feet and danced around in the endzone. It was an important moment in the game that gave the Gamecocks a boost.

“I felt like we had a little bit of momentum, but when we get out on the field we just got to build off that and put it in the endzone,” Legette said.

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Notre Dame would go on to score three more touchdowns and win 45-38. It wasn’t the outcome Legette and the Gamecocks were hoping for, but it was the breakout game that he wanted.

“I feel like I did (make the best of his opportunity) out there,” he said. “There was a couple of plays that I left out there, but I feel like I did pretty good.”

During the regular season, Legette’s opportunities weren’t plentiful. He only had 11 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. But with Josh Vann and Jalen Brooks sidelined, he moved up the depth chart and took first-team reps at practice throughout the week.

“He played so many meaningful snaps and made big-time plays. Obviously, those two touchdowns. Great player,” Rattler said.

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Shane Beamer said he knew Legette, Juice Wells, Ahmarean Brown and Dakereon Joyner would be the team’s top four receivers coming into the game.

“Those guys got in there and battled and got thrown into some tough situations for sure, but certainly did a great job,” Beamer said.

Legette’s fourth year comes to an end with 18 catches for 167 yards and three touchdowns. He also averaged 9.3 yards per catch.

Heading into next season, Legette could be one of South Carolina’s main offensive weapons. He said the team can do something “real big” if more players decide to return.

“Hopefully Spencer comes back and Juice Wells comes back and we can put this thing together,” Legette said.

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There are also going to be younger receivers fighting for meaningful snaps next year, such as freshmen Peyton Mangrum, O’Mega Blake and Landon Samson, who all played in the bowl game.

“All week, we trusted them. Them boys did good all week, even when we put them in the close moments,” Legette said. “I feel like they did everything right and they all played hard.”

While the season ended on a disappointing note, Legette said he’s looking forward to running it back one more time.

“We made a lot of people look at us differently and we showed a lot of flashes in everything that we did,” he said. “The last couple of wins that we had were very big wins. Next season is going to be very big.”

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