South Carolina Football: Former Gamecocks named toughest cornerbacks for All-SEC receiver
By Kevin Miller
On Tuesday, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and three Commodore player representatives (LB Ethan Barr, DB Jaylen Mahoney, and WR Will Sheppard) took center stage in Nashville at SEC Media Days. South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks’ representatives (QB Spencer Rattler, DL Tonka Hemingway, and P Kai Kroeger) won’t speak until Thursday, but the Gamecocks were a topic of conversation on Tuesday, nonetheless.
When Vanderbilt’s Sheppard, an All-SEC selection from 2022, spoke to the media, he was asked about his toughest matchups with defensive backs.
In an interview that aired on SECNetwork, Sheppard mentioned three cornerbacks who stood out above the rest, and two of them were Gamecocks. Missouri corner Kris Abrams-Draine got a shoutout from Sheppard, but former Gamecock shutdown cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Cam Smith were also mentioned.
Sheppard used the same phrase to describe both Gamecock alums when called Horn and Smith “really good” cover guys who made life difficult for him and other receivers in the SEC.
Sheppard put up 95 yards receiving against Smith and the Gamecocks in 2022, but several of his catches came while lined up in the slot, and he was unable to find the end zone in the South Carolina victory. In 2020, when a freshman Sheppard faced off against Horn, he was held without a catch as the Gamecocks rolled 41-7.
In his Commodore career, Sheppard has totaled over 100 catches, over 1250 yards receiving, and 13 touchdown catches.
Both Horn and Smith made an All-SEC squad while in garnet and black and were high picks in the NFL Draft. Horn was taken in the 1st round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, while Smith went in the 2nd round to the Miami Dolphins in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Current Gamecock corners Marcellas Dial and O’Donnell Fortune hope to continue the trend of South Carolina football defenders making life hard for Sheppard and other opposing wide receivers. Last season, the Gamecocks allowed under 200 yards through the air, good for one of the best marks in college football.