Williams achieves a first in Saturday's win over East Carolina

Something happened Saturday afternoon for the first time since David Williams joined the South Carolina football program in 2013 as a highly-touted four-star prospect out of Imhotep Charter School in Philadelphia.

Williams led the Gamecocks in rushing.

He had fallen a yard short on a couple of occasions in 2014 (vs. Furman) and 2015 (at LSU), but had never been the lead dog.

Until now.

For the first time this season, Williams keyed the running game with 67 yards on just seven carries, averaging 9.57 yards per attempt. It was the second highest single game rushing total in Williams’ 23-game career behind his 110-yard afternoon against Furman in 2014. Mike Davis amassed 111 yards, marking the last time two Gamecock players had 100+ yards rushing in the same game.

His productive outing began with a 20-yard run to the ECU 10-yard line to set up Brandon McIlwain’s second TD of the game just 2:13 into the first quarter.

Later, in the waning minutes, he snagged a perfectly executed fourth-down option pitch from McIlwain and rumbled 25 yards over the left side to the ECU 15, where the Gamecocks ran out the clock.

USC converted just 3 of 12 third down opportunities, but one of them came on Williams’ 16-yard reception from McIlwain on third-and-3 late in the third quarter.

All this came seven days after Williams barely got on the field at Mississippi State when he failed to register a carry or a catch. In other words, he was invisible.

“I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder,” Williams said after the game. “I wasn’t living up to the coaches’ expectations. That’s why I didn’t get into the game last week. I just used it as motivation.”

USC head coach Will Muschamp brought Williams into his office after the Gamecocks got back from Starkville and talked with him about what he needed to do – and show on the practice field – to earn playing time.

“I’m very proud of David. He played extremely well,” Muschamp said. “He came in and made a huge catch on third down. It was an acrobatic catch with the ball thrown behind him. David also made a couple of nice runs where he knifed the defense. Something he needs to do is get behind his pads. If he continues to do that, he’ll get a bunch of snaps.”

Clearly, the heart-to-heart discussion produced the results Muschamp and Williams wanted.

“David and I had a good talk this week about the things he needed to continue improving on,” Muschamp said. “Just consistency in his performance every day. Give David credit. It takes a mature young man to respond. He responded the right way.”

Williams said he and the Gamecocks fed off A.J. Turner’s 80-yard return on the opening kickoff. A personal foul penalty on ECU moved the ball to the 9-yard line where McIlwain scampered into the end zone just 17 seconds into the game.

“A.J. set the tone on the first play of the game,” Williams said. “We just capitalized off that momentum and kept it going. The defense did a heckuva job too playing about 90 snaps and saving us.”

TOTAL YARDS DON’T MATTER: East Carolina outgained the Gamecocks in total yardage by more than 200 yards (519-312), but Will Muschamp could care less. As a defensive-oriented coach, he cares first and foremost about the number of points the opposition scores. Average yards per play is important as well. The Gamecocks won that battle, averaging 5.89 yards per play compared to 5.70 yards for the Pirates.

East Carolina had three consecutive drives of 68+ yards in the second half when it failed to register a point. Those drives all ended in the red zone on an interception, a blocked field goal and a fumble.

“I learned something from a guy I worked for a long time ago – it only counts when they score,” Muschamp said. “I don’t look at the stat sheet and say, ‘How many total yards did they have.’ I look at the scoreboard. I couldn’t care less about how many yards they had as long as we win the game.

“Do what it takes to win the game. I told our players that if they don’t big play us, (we’ll win). We held them to three explosive plays out of 91 snaps and 5.7 yards per play. That’s an outstanding defensive performance. Now, I know you will look at the stat sheet and say ‘Wow, 519 yards, these guys stink.’ That’s not right. It’s yards per play.”

East Carolina wide receiver Zay Jones caught 22 passes for 190 yards, but his longest completion gained 15 yards, so the Gamecocks prevented the big play by him.

“On third downs, we rolled the coverage on top of him a bunch,” Muschamp said. “His longest was 15 (yards). That’s the key. If they don’t big play you, they can’t beat you because in the red zone they struggle to run the ball. It’s Football 101.”

SEC EAST STANDINGS (After Week 3)

Florida 1-0

Georgia 1-0

South Carolina 1-1

Tennessee 0-0

Kentucky 0-1

Missouri 0-1

Vanderbilt 0-1

SEC WEEK 4 SCHEDULE (Sept. 24):

Kent State at Alabama, Noon (SEC Network)

Georgia at Ole Miss, Noon (ESPN)

Mississippi State at Massachusetts, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN3)

Florida at Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

Delaware State at Missouri, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)

Vanderbilt at Western Kentucky, 4:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

LSU at Auburn, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

South Carolina at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

Arkansas at Texas A&M, 9 p.m. (ESPN)

(All Times Eastern)