As straightforward as possible on the field, but the exact opposite mentally and emotionally for Gamecock fans.
South Carolina football blasted Akron 50-7 at Williams-Brice Stadium. The talent gap was enormous, the gulf in quality was evident from the jump and proceedings were all but decided before the first quarter clock hit triple zeroes.
But when superstar running back Rocket Sanders went down with an injury while blocking for Juju McDowell in the first quarter, an uncomfortable, ominous cloud hung over the 78,704 gathered in Columbia for the remainder of the evening. Sanders did not return to action and spent most of the evening stapled to the bench, occasionally talking to trainers or teammates without much involvement on the sidelines.
The action on the field featured another injury-induced replacement at a key offensive position; Robby Ashford taking over for LaNorris Sellers at quarterback. Sellers went down in the second quarter against LSU last week and had a walking boot on his right foot during warm-ups, giving way to the Auburn transfer to make his first start at South Carolina.
He got the offense going on the second possession of play with an 89-yard drive, spearheaded by 61 yards by himself on the ground. Dowell Loggains called a combination of option looks and zone reads for Ashford, and eventually Oscar Adaway II capped off the drive with his first touchdown as a Gamecock in relief of Rocket.
One drive later he found some offense through the air when he christened Mazeo Bennett’s first career night game with a 30-yard touchdown strike to the wide open true freshman in the end zone. Ashford dialed up another touchdown pass to a wide open Juju McDowell on a fourth-and-1 pass into the flat later in the second half, making it a three-score advantage for the home team and removing any slight specter of doubt from the result.
But on a night where optics were always going to be more important than the final score, South Carolina walked out with plenty of questions to ponder over the bye week. Two special teams penalties in the first quarter will surely stick in Shane Beamer’s craw, and two more personal fouls in the second half stacked up the penalty yardage even further. The two-minute situations remained a significant thorn in the team’s side as well when the offense failed to score points off the closing possession of the first half for the fourth consecutive game in a row.
But Ashford connected with Gage Larvadain on two deep balls, put up 243 passing yards on 15-of-21 attempts and Adaway punched in another touchdown in the second half to add to his tally. Ashford even added a score on the ground of his own when he took a 36-yard keeper off left tackle for a score to add an exclamation point to his start.
Third-string quarterback Davis Beville cleaned up for Ashford in relief, delivering redshirt freshman Connor Cox's first career reception on a 9-yard touchdown pass midway through the final frame. Transfer running back Jawarn Howell also opened his Gamecock account with a 23-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it a 50-point game for South Carolina.
Beamer's team is 3-1 heading to its first bye week, but the Sanders injury question will be the lingering concern from week four and beyond.
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