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COLUMBIA — South Carolina football opened its 2024 season with a 23-19 win over Old Dominion on Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks struggled to score most of the game. Without kicker Alex Herrera’s success, South Carolina would have been in trouble for the entire first half. Running back Rocket Sanders had the first touchdown of the day with a 1-yard run, but South Carolina didn’t score again until six minutes remained in the game, which was a 3-yard rushing touchdown after the Gamecocks recovered a fumble at the 6.
Coach Shane Beamer said during preseason that South Carolina likely would use many wide receivers during each game but on Saturday, the Gamecocks mainly used the running game and redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
Here are three overreactions from South Carolina’s win, including a tough showing on offense:
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina offense has much to work on
Sellers is a redshirt freshman with very little playing experience and on Saturday looked frazzled at times. In the second quarter, running back Juju McDowell switched directions on a run and while Sellers attempted to block for him, he ended up running into McDowell, taking down his own player.
Sellers threw to seven receivers, and his passing wasn’t entirely clean. Sellers finished 10-for-23 passing, for 114 yards. Sellers rushed for 68 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, but there was a lot of disconnect in the passing game.
South Carolina’s defense will need to step up all season
The first play of the game for Old Dominion resulted in a forced fumble by edge Kyle Kennard that was recovered by linebacker Debo Williams to set up a Sanders touchdown run. On the Monarchs’ next drive, DQ Smith got beat long for a 72-yard touchdown throw by Grant Wilson to Isiah Page.
After that, the Gamecocks’ defense looked better. In the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/shane-beamer-south-carolinas-offense-004822573.html
Author : Greenville News
Publish date : 2024-09-01 00:48:22
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