South Carolina Football: Juice Receives His Award

South Carolina football went from offensive ineptitude early in 2022 to extremely productive at the end of the season. Wide Receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells had flashed some special ability early in the campaign but really shone brightly as the entire offense started to click.

Spencer Rattler’s main squeeze, Juice was selected as part of the All-SEC first-team as his regular season ended with 20 catches, over 300 yards, and 3 total touchdowns during just the playoff-crushing upsets of Tennessee and Clemson. It appears Juice finally got the hardware he earned in the fall.

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Wells’ 928 receiving yards is a number that has only ever been eclipsed in a Gamecock season by Alshon Jeffery, Sterling Sharpe, Kenny McKinley, Sidney Rice, and Pharoh Cooper. All-time greats such as Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards, Zola Davis, and Fred Zeigler never finished a season with that many yards through the air. What is most impressive about this for Wells was that almost all of those numbers came in four games: the aforementioned Tennessee and Clemson games and offensive shootouts with Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Fans have realistic expectations when they believe the James Madison transfer can produce at an even higher level in 2023.

Wells and Rattler made some noise in January when they both decided against testing the NFL Draft waters and elected to, instead, return to Columbia for one last ride. The duo has South Carolina fans dreaming of an offense that consistently performs at the level they ended the 2022 season. New Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains has said all the right things this offseason about making it an emphasis to get the football to the team’s best playmakers while moving the offense down the field quickly. This bodes well for the potential stat lines for Wells this season.

In 2022, under the “direction” of former Offensive Coordinator Marcus Satterfield, Wells would go long stretches without being targeted, and the offense’s complexity had the players trying to play a fast-paced and physical game while being in a constant state of confusion and unsureness. Loggains vows to simplify things for 2023, and Gamecock fans cannot wait to see him fulfill his promises and help Juice Wells etch his name alongside some of the greatest pass catchers in South Carolina football history.