A six-pack of rushing touchdowns led South Carolina past Charlotte 56-20 at Williams-Brice Stadium in a bounce-back win after dropping two consecutive games.
The Gamecocks (2-2) scored points on their first eight offensive possessions of the game and shook the 49ers (1-4) loose after a tricky first half thanks to a convincing 36-6 second-half score.
Redshirt sophomore running back MarShawn Lloyd rushed for a career-high 169 yards and scored three touchdowns, the 14th-highest single-game rushing output for a Gamecock in the 21st century. As a team the Gamecocks rushed for 295 yards, dwarfing the total of 211 yards from the first three games combined. It was the ninth-highest single game rushing output in program history.
It was Lloyd’s show straight from the start, taking the first four carries of the game for a combined 51 yards right out of the gate, helping the Gamecocks move the ball into the red zone. The drive stalled with a field goal attempt, and Charlotte capitalized on the early momentum with touchdowns on each of its first two possessions. The 49ers drove 80+ yards both times, including a 13-play, 90-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown pass from Chris Reynolds to Jake Clemons.
Charlotte converted its first seven third downs of the game and led 14-10 deep into the second quarter, but from there South Carolina seized control at the line of scrimmage. The defense that struggled to create pressure early finally started opening gaps, with Gilber Edmond registering his first sack of the season and pursuit by Jordan Burch leading to a second-half interception on a rushed throw.
Interceptions become the story of the third quarter for the South Carolina defense. The unit that led the SEC in takeaways last year but only had one all-season entering Saturday picked off three passes in the third quarter. Brad Johnson, DQ Smith, and Cam Smith in his return from injury all registered interceptions, and the offense cashed all three in for touchdowns.
A 20-14 game at halftime quickly turned into a rout when Lloyd added two more rushing touchdowns and Wake Forest Christian Beal-Smith tacked on another from one yard out midway through the third quarter. Beal-Smith had his most action of the season with nine rushes for 55 yards and his first two scores of the campaign.
JuJu McDowell became the third different Gamecock to rush for a touchdown as the offense made it 49 points against the 49ers on his four-yard scamper early in the final quarter.
Spencer Rattler played his first turnover-free game of the season, although he did not throw for a touchdown either in the ground-dominated game. He finished 17-of-23 passing with 189 yards, a lot of which came on screen passes and horizontal throws with quick releases. Three different players caught at least three different passes and six players had at least two receptions, led by Jalen Brooks with three catches for 67 yards and Ahmarean Brown with three for a total of 55 yards.
South Carolina was also a perfect 7-of-7 on scoring points in the red zone, correcting another issue from the early days of the season. On the injury front, Charlotte marked the return of several key defensive pieces. Smith had his interception, but Alex Huntley and R.J. Roderick also returned to prominent action. Jaylen Nichols also checked back in on the offensive line after missing the Georgia game, rotating his role at the tackle spots with Jakai Moore and Tyshawn Wannamaker.
Corey Rucker saw his first action of the season after missing the opening three games with a foot injury. The Arkansas State transfer capped off the night with a 52-yard touchdown reception from Luke Doty
The Gamecocks are now back to .500 on the season and will have another home game next week against FCS South Carolina State, who dropped to 1-2 with a loss to North Carolina A&T on Saturday.
