South Carolina Football: 10 Players that Gamecocks are Glad to See Leave the SEC

LYNN BOWDEN, JR.

Bowden was the most versatile player in all of college football a season ago, being called on to play receiver, running back, and quarterback, while also returning kicks.  He led the SEC in rushing and wound up being selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.  His 7.9 yards per rush was tops in the NCAA.

For his career, Bowden totaled over 2,800 yards from scrimmage, 1,530 on the ground and 1,303 through the air.  He also passed for 495 yards.

Against the Gamecocks, he’s been just as deadly.  Last year he tallied 69 yards on offense (44 rushing, 18 receiving, 7 passing), while also returning three kicks for 84 yards.  South Carolina was able to keep Bowden out of the endzone, though they did benefit from the timing on the schedule.

After starting quarterback Terry Wilson went down with an injury, the Wildcats scrambled to find a backup.  The Gamecocks actually played the final game against Kentucky before coach Mark Stoops opted to insert Bowden in the starting QB role.

Following the loss to South Carolina, Bowden would run for 1,389 yards over the final eight games of the season, an average of 174 ypg.  In seven of those matchups, he broke the century mark, with the lone sub-100-yard performance being a 99-yard output versus Georgia.

Bowden chose to forego his senior season, and the Gamecocks will be glad to see the Swiss-army knife off the 2020 schedule.