South Carolina Football: Another Gamecock honored for week 1 performance

South Carolina football lost to North Carolina in ugly fashion on Saturday 31-17. The Gamecocks got whipped up front and couldn’t hang with the Tar Heels despite winning the turnover battle, securing an onside kick, and being the less-penalized team.

However, despite all of the (very real) negatives from the game, some positives exist.

On defense, the Gamecock linebackers played pretty well as Debo Williams and Stone Blanton combined for 24 tackles. True freshman safety Jalon Kilgore came on in relief of the injured Nick Emmanwori and was honored by On3 as one of the national True Freshmen of the Week for his performance.

On offense, quarterback Spencer Rattler did everything he could to keep the Gamecocks in the game, throwing for over 350 yards on 30/39 passing despite running for his life all night. Rattler’s top target on the night was wide receiver Xavier Legette.

Legette, from Mullins, South Carolina, reeled in 9 passes from Rattler and set a South Carolina football record for most receiving yards in a season opener with 178 yards. It was a breakout performance for Legette who was honored by PFF’s college division as one of two wide receivers on the Week 1 College Football Team of the Week.

Expected Gamecock top dog Juice Wells was limited in the game due to a foot injury that he’s been battling since the summer. Wells is listed as questionable moving forward, meaning that Legette could have the opportunity the continue his run as WR1 in garnet and black.

Legette was expected by the South Carolina coaching staff to take a big step up in 2023, and it looks like #17 has answered the call.

If and when Wells returns to the lineup, the Gamecocks could be in for a special season at wide receiver as quarterback Spencer Rattler seems to be poised for a big year. If the Carolina offensive line can perform better than they did against North Carolina, the USC offense could be a special one the rest of the way in 2023.