It’s the elephant in the room, and South Carolina is doing nothing to shy away from it as the season comes to a close.
With one game left this season, Kevin Harris is agonizingly close to becoming the first Gamecock in seven years to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a season and could easily do so against Kentucky.
“I know I was talking about it to him all morning,” Dakereon Joyner said. “He’s easily one of the best backs in the country. He’s proven that. He’s a hard-nosed guy that continues to put his team first. He’s very thankful for his offensive linemen. Without those guys he wouldn’t be able to do it. We’re all very excited for him to get that and I know he’ll reach it.”
Also see: The latest scoop on a few interviews to take place this week
Harris sits currently at 928 yards rushing, less than a full football field away from becoming the first player since Mike Davis in 2013 to hit quadruple digits rushing.
Some quick math shows Harris needs 72 yards to go, and with his 5.7 yards per carry average would need 13 carries to hit the 1,000-yard mark. He’s averaging 18.2 carries per game.
“I think he’ll have an opportunity because he’s such a vital part of our offense and Fenwick being down and it being the last game. He’s going to have enough carries to have that opportunity.”
Also see: The latest coaching scoop on a timeline
If the season were 12 games, Harris is on pace for 1,237 yards on 218 carries and 18 touchdowns. That would have be good for the school record for single-season rushing touchdowns, the third most rushing yards and the fifth-most attempts.
What’s even more impressive for Harris’s season is he’s doing all of this during a shortened season, just 10 games, against all conference competition in a Gamecock offense that has been extremely one-dimensional this year.
“We’ve given him a chance to be successful with different types of runs. We’ve been creative in the run game,” Mike Bobo said. “When you’re one-dimensional like we’ve been and for him to do that against an All-SEC schedule that would speak volumes to his offensive group, what we’ve done and him.”
Also see: Evaluating Luke Doty's start against Georgia
The good news for Harris is temperatures for Saturday’s game will probably be below freezing and there’s a chance for snow, which lends itself to a run-heavy game plan.
The Gamecocks’ opponent, Kentucky, is allowing 152.2 rushing yards per game, which is well above the yards needed to hit the mark.
It’s important to South Carolina’s offense for Harris to reach the milestone, and they feel like he can get there.
“That’s one heck of a milestone, especially for a guy like Kevin, who’s had a great year,” Luke Doty said. “He’s going to have a great game for us on Saturday. If we finish out, get a win and get him to 1,000 yards it would be awesome.”
