Rush Hour: South Carolina run game leads the way in win over Charlotte

The bleachers at Williams-Brice Stadium were almost bare in spots with 11:58 remaining in the first ever meeting between South Carolina and Charlotte. But those seats weren’t empty because the home squad slogged through the wrong side of another historic dismantling.

No.

Those seats were vacated on account of the Gamecocks bludgeoning the visiting 49ers team 56-20 in a contest that saw car taillights lining Bluff Road well before the final whistle out of sympathy rather than indifference.

None of South Carolina’s remaining opponents are as disastrously poor on defense as Charlotte, sure. But for a Gamecocks squad that had yet to piece together 40 minutes of cohesive offense, the win was a start.

Running back MarShawn Lloyd did his best Reggie Bush impression dancing around, through and — quite literally — over any wobbly Charlotte defender that dared to try and stop him.

Charlotte defensive back Wayne Jones was the first poor soul that attempted to impede Lloyd’s path. Dashing through a truck-sized hole on the left side of the South Carolina line, Lloyd squared up Jones at the second level of the 49ers defense. With a world-class leap, the 5-foot-9, 212-pound tailback leaped over Jones dipped back to the outside and raced into the end zone for the Gamecocks’ first of six rushing touchdowns on the day.

Lloyd did one better on his second carry of the third quarter, hitting a hole and bowling over Jones once more before outracing the rest of the Charlotte defense for his second of his three touchdowns on the night.

Running mate and previously prolific Wake Forest tailback Christian Beal-Smith added a pair of rushing touchdowns of his own on Saturday.

Beal-Smith, who had been limited through the first three games of the season with a foot injury, leaped over the Charlotte defensive line for South Carolina’s fourth down touchdown run of the night and his first score as a Gamecock.

He added a second on a one-yard touchdown plunge midway through the third quarter — part of a 39-0 South Carolina scoring run that spanned 27 minutes of game time.

Juju McDowell notched the final rushing touchdown on a four-yard rush, while Arkansas State transfer receiver Corey Rucker’s 52-yard fourth quarter touchdown reception was the final score of the night.

Shaky as it was in the first half, the Gamecocks defense clamped down over the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s contest.

Defensive coordinator Clayton White’s unit combined for three interceptions on three-straight Charlotte possessions to gift the South Carolina offense fields of seven, 33 and 43 yards on its three third quarter touches.

Charlotte finished the night being out-gained 545-290. South Carolina’s three takeaways also marked its most in a game since a 2020 win over Auburn.

Take Saturday for what it was. South Carolina rolled — albeit after a bit of a messy start defensively — over a team that ranked dead-last in the FBS in total defense. That much is true.

It doesn’t discount what looked like a disastrously listless offense against Georgia a week ago exploding for the most complete 40-minute display of the Shane Beamer era.

It’s why receiver Josh Vann hung his head and laughed when his fourth quarter punt return touchdown was called back for a blocking penalty roughly 70 yards from the end zone. It’s why South Carolina going for and eventually converting a fourth down deep in Charlotte territory thanks to a horse-collar tackle and already up 32 points felt worthy of celebration.

For one night, forget the miscues. Forget the opponent. Forget the 1-2 start to the season.

South Carolina was downright dominant and that’s something worth celebrating — even if those fans that departed early did their celebrating beyond the confines of Williams-Brice Stadium at 11:08 p.m. on Saturday.

First down

Lloyd had the best game of his brief Gamecocks career on Saturday. He finished his day with 169 yards on the ground — including 64 yards via seven attempts on South Carolina’s first drive of the day.

The Delaware native recorded his previous career-high 55 rush yards in the 2021 season-opening win over Eastern Illinois.

Key Stats

49 — The Gamecocks scored 49 points for the first time against FBS competition for the first time since a 2018 win over Coastal Carolina.

70 — South Carolina’s number of rushing yards on its first drive. That’s more than it mustered in the entire loss vs. Arkansas (40).