A look at the running back position for the 2024 South Carolina football team

Last fall, Shane Beamer's South Carolina football squad really struggled to run the football. Newberry transfer Mario Anderson emerged as the team's top rusher and had a decent season, but the ground attack managed just 85 yards per game (the worst per-game numbers in program history) and 2.8 yards per carry.

With Anderson, an out-of-position Dakereon Joyner, and scatback Juju McDowell as the top-3 at the running back position, the Gamecocks couldn't get much going behind an offensive line that had 9 different players suffer injuries that caused them to miss multiple games and had to play several players at new spots.

Things should be better for Carolina's rushing efforts this fall as the line will be healthier and the personnel has improved. There is optimism in Columbia that the Gamecocks won't just be better this year but that they can be a good rushing offense, and a lot of that will stem from the changes made to the running back position.

Here's a preview of what the running back position could like for the 2024 version of the South Carolina football team.

Projected Starter: Rocket Sanders
Could Also Play: Oscar Adaway, Juju McDowell, Jawarn Howell, Djay Braswell
Names to Watch for the Future: Jawarn Howell, Matthew Fuller, Djay Braswell

The crown jewel of a strong incoming transfer portal recruiting class was Rocket Sanders. The former Arkansas Razorbacks All-American is coming off of some knee and shoulder ailments, but Beamer has indicated that the senior ball-carrier is fully healthy and ready to go for this fall.

Sanders is big (after losing some weight, he is listed at 230 pounds), and he has enough speed that his nickname of "Rocket" is well-earned. Back in his All-American 2022 campaign, he went off for 186 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns against the Gamecocks in Fayetteville. If he can return to form in 2024, or close to it, he will be the best running back in garnet and black, at least, since Kevin Harris.

Joining him as a veteran transfer, former North Texas Mean Green running back Oscar Adaway will play a lot this fall, too. He has over 2000 career yards and 15 touchdowns, and he averaged 6 yards per carry in 2023. When he comes in the game to spell Sanders, Adaway is good enough to carry the load.

Juju McDowell is going to play this fall. The senior scatback won't get too many carries between the tackles, and he might have some games in which he doesn't play much. However, pending health (he has hurt his collar bone twice since the middle of last season), he will make an impact on the offense. He is at his best catching the ball out of the backfield and taking handoffs on designed runs that get him into space. He also could be a special teams contributor.

Three young running backs will compete for depth roles in the offense as Jawarn Howell (sophomore transfer from the South Carolina State Bulldogs), Djay Braswell (sophomore), and Matthew Fuller (true freshman) are all high-upside players. Howell was one of the top rushers in FCS football in 2023, and Braswell and Fuller were 4-star prospects out of high school. It seems likely that at least one (maybe even two or three) of the group will redshirt, but the trio will be important to the program moving forward.

In all, the running back room will be significantly better in 2024 than it was in 2023, and paired with a revamped rushing philosophy behind run game coordinator Shawn Elliott that will include more quarterback run game, the Gamecocks will utilize the ground game much more often.

Sanders, Adaway, McDowell, and the rest of the running backs will have their first opportunity to tote the rock in just 17 days as the Old Dominion Monarchs will travel to Williams-Brice Stadium for the August 31st season opener.