During the final 10 days until the start of South Carolina's season, Gamecock Central will use each day to take a look at 10 storylines that will most directly affect the success of Carolina's 2018 campaign.
With five days until kickoff, we look at our No. 5 storyline - a breakout year for Rico Dowdle?
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South Carolina junior running back Rico Dowdle is in the best shape of his life and that should be music to Gamecock fans' ears.
While Carolina has a solid stable of running backs who can all get the job done, the Gamecocks' offense has just looked different - for lack of a better word - when Dowdle has been on the field.
Staying on the field has been the Asheville, N.C. native's biggest issue which led to a challenge from head coach Will Muschamp this offseason.
"He just challenged me to push harder and to just keep straining," Dowdle said earlier in camp. "Actually, the other day, he came up and told me I passed his challenge with flying colors, which was good, and he told me to have a great camp."
Dowdle missed the first four games of his career after having offseason hernia surgery as a freshman, but rebounded to rush for 764 yards on 133 carries as he and Jake Bentley - both freshmen at the time - spurred a strong finish to the 2016 season.
Last year, Dowdle was poised for a big sophomore season. But he started the year banged up, finally got going, then broke his leg in the Tennessee game. He missed five games before coming off the bench in the Outback Bowl win.
"I had a rough season, I'll say," Dowdle said. "At the beginning of the season I was banged up really until the (Tennessee) game. It was important to play in that last game for me."
There was no better example of what Dowdle brings to the offense than his performance in that game. Not near 100 percent, Dowdle was still able to spark Carolina in the second half with six carries for 45 yards and a touchdown and three receptions for 32 yards.
While a broken leg can't be helped, Muschamp's challenge to Dowdle was to take better care of his body off the field in order to avoid some of the soft tissue problems and other bangs and bruises that have plagued his college career.
Dowdle responded by eating better and going through a series of progressive hamstring exercises this offseason to better stretch key muscles.
"Physically, I would say I'm a lot different," Dowdle said. "I'm way bigger, I'm faster and I'm stronger. That was one of the things that I focused on in the offseason, really my speed and getting faster and getting my body to 100 percent healthy."
Now at 100 percent, Dowdle could be the big-play running back that the offense needs as running backs coach Bobby Bentley has said countless times that he's looking for a dominant back to take over the room.
Ty'Son Williams, A.J. Turner and Mon Denson will each have his place in the offense, but a healthy Dowdle could be a difference-maker.
"He's healthy," Bentley said a few weeks ago. "He looks better. He's faster. He looks more violent. When he turns his shoulders down hill, he's looking for contact and to create yards. That's what's exciting to coach him."
The 10 days until football
