South Carolina football has a star returning on its offensive field.
Brad Crawford of 247 Sports recently ranked the SEC’s top returning tailbacks for the next 2021 season and, not surprisingly, there was a Gamecock listed at the top of the block.
Junior rusher Kevin Harris received the nod as the conference’s best return player in position after winning the Rushing Crown regular season last year. The ball carrier hit the stone 185 times, for a total of 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns in just one season of 10 games. His 6.2-yard average per carry was a school record, as was his performance of five touchdowns in an eighth week fight against Ole Miss. Harris set fire to the Rebel defense for 243 yards, his first of two 200-yard outs in the year.
Here’s what Crawford had to say about the back talent.
2020 numbers: 185 loads, 1,138 yards, 15 TDs
Why he is formidable: Unless you saw Kevin Harris work last season on a bad team, you lost. The second SEC rusher leader behind Najee Harris, the other Harris scored 15 touchdowns, including a program record of four during South Carolina’s Ole Miss game. He averaged 6.2 yards per charge behind an offensive line that performed well at times, but his leader did the heavy lifting. At 5 feet and 10, 225 pounds, Harris is a human wrecking ball and rarely falls on first contact. He is also a threat to the home run, after his speed was questioned by many early in his career. Along with the announced 2020 signatory, Marshawn Lloyd, Harris gives Gamecocks a workhorse in the backfield and a difference maker who will be strongly supported during Shane Beamer’s first campaign.
The native of Peach State will try to repeat this performance in 2021 and will be a key factor in the difference in the new look of Gamecocks. He should have some help with defense as well, with the addition of five-star running back MarShawn Lloyd, who lost all last year with a torn ACL.
The pair could combine to create one of the league’s most formidable backfields, competing with rushers from names like Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas A&M. The running back position is certainly the focal point in an unproven attack in South Carolina, and Kevin Harris is a big reason.