Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team is taking on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Columbia this Saturday. The Gamecocks need a win in a major way as USC already has 2 losses and plays the most difficult schedule in the country in 2023.
A secondary storyline of the season has been the elite play of quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Xavier Legette. Despite tremendous struggles from the Carolina offensive line, Rattler and Legette rank in the top-10 nationally in passing yards and receiving yards, respectively.
Specifically, Legette could be in line to make history once again on Saturday.
Each game of the young season, Xavier Legette has made some South Carolina football history. The senior wideout set a Gamecock record for the most yards ever in a season opener when he caught 178 yards worth of Spencer Rattler passes against North Carolina.
Week 2 saw Legette set a new record for the most receiving yards through two games to start a season after he added another 118 yards against Furman. Week 3 against Georgia saw him fail to reach 100 yards, but his 367 yards are still the most ever from a Gamecock through three games.
With another strong showing, Legette could extend his record-setting streak to 4 games. In 2010, Alshon Jeffery (who will, coincidentally be having his jersey retired on Saturday during the Mississippi State game) logged 498 yards through his first four games of the All-American campaign. Legette will need a 131-yard performance to keep pace with the legendary #1.
Mississippi State might be the right opponent for this history to take place against as the Bulldogs really struggled against the pass last week against LSU. Quarterback Jayden Daniels and top target Malik Nabers went off in Starkville as Nabers collected 239 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns.
Even if #17 can’t quite match Alshon Jeffery’s 2010 pace, he is still off to a tremendous start to the season. He was voted as the #9 receiver in college football so far in 2023 by On3, and considering the fact that he had never caught more than 167 yards in a season, that is downright remarkable.
Spencer Rattler also has a chance of setting a Carolina 4-game record. Steve Taneyhill began the 1995 season with 1255 yards passing through the first four games of the year. Rattler sits 301 yards behind that number at 954 yards through three games. A good game on Saturday could see the Gamecock signal-caller break the 28-year old record.
Rattler and Legette will continue their pursuits of history at 7:30 on Saturday on SECNetwork and the ESPN App.