South Carolina Football: 5 players whose stock is rising for the Gamecocks
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football players whose stock is up:
Wide Receiver O’Mega Blake
The South Carolina wide receiver room is loaded with upperclassmen like Juice Wells, Xavier Legette, Ahmarean Brown, and Eddie Lewis, but a younger player has stepped up in a big way in the form of O’Mega Blake.
A redshirt sophomore, Blake had never really contributed for the Gamecocks before getting his shot this fall. He caught his first career touchdown pass against Furman but then really came on in relief of Juice Wells against Georgia when he caught 5 passes for 86 yards. Had Blake not slipped on the muddy field on one reception, he might have logged 100 yards against the mighty Bulldog defense.
With Wells officially out for a little while, O’Mega Blake will continue to get a lot of snaps as one of the Gamecocks’ outside receivers.
As a player, the Rock Hill native has good instincts for coming back to the football, and he has pretty good speed and quickness with the ball in his hands. The South Pointe High School product looked particularly effective going across the middle of the field last week, something that is indicative of route-running ability and toughness at the wide receiver position.
There are a lot of reasons to believe that he has “figured it out” for wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, and with Wells’ injury and the Gamecocks’ struggles in the running game, Blake will be a big part of the Carolina offense moving forward in 2023.