South Carolina football: Kevin Harris slowly becoming Gamecocks top back

South Carolina football has found their RB of the future in Kevin Harris.

Over the last three recruiting cycles, the South Carolina football program has signed a total of seven running backs. These backs include a five-star prospect in MarShawn Lloyd, a couple of four-star transfers in ZaQuandre White and Tavien Feaster, and all-purpose back Deshaun Fenwick.

One forgotten player among the group was Kevin Harris, a three-star product that was ranked by 247Sports as the 93rd best player in the state of Georgia, and the 60th best running back prospect in his class. His offer list consisted of 13 schools, with South Carolina being the only Power Five program to extend a scholarship.

Harris’s other offers? Air Force, Army, Cornell, Elon, Furman, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Middle Tennessee State, Navy, The Citadel, Tulane, and Wofford.

Well, the recruiting services missed on this one.

Through three games this season, Harris is averaging 108.7 yards per game on the ground and has scored five touchdowns. He currently ranks second in the SEC in rushing, behind only Alabama’s Najee Harris. The workhorse of the South Carolina backfield, he leads the conference in carries.

Harris got his first opportunity to see the playing field last season as a freshman, and he did not disappoint. In his first action, he broke off long run after long run, amassing 147 yards on just six carries in a week two matchup with Charleston Southern.

Unfortunately, he was limited by an injury that caused him to miss some time down the stretch, while also being positioned on the depth chart behind three senior rushers.

Tavien Feaster, Rico Dowdle, and Mon Denson all graduated following the 2019 season, leaving an open competition at the running back position, but again, Harris seemed to be overlooked.

Most of the talk around the program was focused on incoming freshman MarShawn Lloyd, who was already being crowned the starter by the fanbase before even taking a snap. ZaQuandre White was also being mentioned after an All-America performance at the junior college level. But not much was being said about Harris, who entered the year as one of just two returning backs with game experience.

An ACL tear derailed Lloyd’s opportunity to play in 2020, and White was hampered by a nagging hamstring injury throughout the offseason. Harris seized his moment and hasn’t looked back after earning the opening day start against Tennessee.

His performance has gotten better with each week, as he’s tallied rushing totals of 55, 100, and 171 yards. Against a depleted Vanderbilt defense, Harris looked unstoppable, breaking off touchdown runs of 25 and 88 yards. He also added four receptions, giving him a total of 200 yards from scrimmage on the day.

Harris has been a key component of a Carolina offense that’s averaging over 30 points per game, and coach Muschamp knows it. Here’s what he had to say about his starting running back after a 100-yard performance against the Florida Gators.

"“He’s got great understanding in the run game, and I think he’s got really good patience in the run game on some of the pull plays, the power plays, the down around scheme that we run. I think he does a good job of buying time for his blockers and then he instincts north and south. He understands who he is. He’s a north and south runner who’s going to run through contact and a guy that you get tired of hitting in the third and fourth quarter.”"

No one, outside of maybe Harris, himself, predicted that the Georgia native would be on pace to be the Gamecocks’ first 1,000-yard rusher since 2013. It goes to show that recruiting rankings are not always the end-all-be-all to having success at the next level.

Look for Harris to continue to be heavily involved in the offense moving forward. The Gamecocks will need him to continue his production in a week four meeting with the No. 14 Auburn Tigers if they want to pull the upset. The Gamecocks have entered the week as three-point home underdogs.