After Saturday’s scrimmage, Will Muschamp mentioned needing more consistency from his running backs and, with no clear-cut starter two weeks into camp, the Gamecock coaching staff challenged the guys on the roster.

A week later as the Gamecocks get ready for another Saturday scrimmage, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo echoed Muschamp’s sentiment.

“We need consistency at that position. We need guys that are going to read the run correctly, hit the run with power and run behind their pads,” he said. “Those guys were challenged after the scrimmage on Saturday. They did some good things in the scrimmage but it wasn’t what we wanted as an offensive staff or what coach Muschamp wants in his football team. we challenged those guys and thought they did a good job this week.”

Right now the Gamecocks have three guys in the thick of the competition for the starting running back spot with two returners (Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick) and a newcomer in Rashad Amos.

Junior college running back ZaQuandre White is dealing with a hamstring injury and Bobo said he hoped to get him back next week but it’s “hard to say” where he fits right now.

What Bobo did say was he’s impressed with sophomore Kevin Harris, who rushed for 179 yards last season.

“Kevin Harris has been real consistent in knowing what to do and getting you what you think you’ll get on certain called runs,” Bobo said.

For Fenwick, he’s been a little more up and down, but the potential for the 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back is there and it’s about getting him to trust himself enough to tap into it.

Fenwick has struggled to see the field the last two seasons but has been productive when he did get in, averaging 5.3 yards per carry with a touchdown on 43 carries.

“Deshaun Fenwick has shown promise. He’s done some nice things. I think he has a chance to be a productive back in this league,” Bobo said. “I think he needs to play and practice with the confidence I have in him and the confidence des Kitchings has in him. Sometimes he doubts himself. I see a guy that’s 220-plus pounds that has good hands, is very intelligent to just go out there and trust himself.”

Amos is a freshman who’s been getting good reviews from Muschamp and Bobo but the same growing pains that come with every freshman are starting to show up as Amos gets halfway into his first training camp.

“Rashad Amos is a talented young man who, quite frankly, needs to grow up. That happens with a lot of freshman. They’re trying to figure out life with staying in the dorm and school and when to get to bed and how to take care of your body. He needs to grow up,” Bobo said.

“We’re going to play all three of those backs and he needs to grow up and get to where he can compete on a consistent basis by handling his business like a mature young man. That’s part of being a freshman. It’s part of us being a coach in getting him that way.”

It seems the Gamecocks are going to try and play three, if not all four backs, at some point this season but Saturday’s scrimmage will go a long way in seeing which guys will get the majority of the carries.