During the Gamecocks’ stellar performance on Saturday night in a 49-9 win over the Mocs, many South Carolina running backs helped along the way to secure the victory.
South Carolina was able to gain this momentum despite not having redshirt junior running back Ty’Son Williams and junior running back Rico Dowdle for the game.
South Carolina running backs combined for a total of 238 yards with three touchdowns on the ground and 42 yards with two touchdowns receiving.
Among these running backs was redshirt junior A.J. Turner, who continued his recent dominant performances after rushing for 81 yards on 12 attempts last week in a 35-31 loss against the Florida Gators.
Turner was a key contributor in the Gamecocks' win over the Mocs by recording his first two receiving touchdowns of the season along with one rushing touchdown.
“I give a lot of credit to my O-line and Jake [Bentley],” Turner said. “I mean Jake passed me the ball, the O-line blocking so can never take all the credit for that, you got to give credit when it’s due.”
Turner went on to say that this game was his best collegiate game statistically but he believes that his success was due to the chemistry him, Bentley and the offensive line have.
"The chemistry that we have doing stuff like that, practicing during the week does a lot for us and it carries over to game time and it showed this week," Turner said.
Redshirt junior Mon Denson also continued to perform well on Saturday night after rushing for a combined 152 yards in the last two games against Ole Miss and Florida.
Despite not having much playing time, Denson ran for 28 yards against the Mocs with a 1-yard rushing touchdown late in the first half which would be just his second of the season.
“Mon and A.J. continue to run the ball extremely well for us," head coach Will Muschamp said.
Freshman running back Deshaun Fenwick also showed out at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night as well. Fenwick surpassed triple digits in yards with 112 and he also scored his first collegiate touchdown in the fourth quarter in his first career game for the Gamecocks.
“I thought Deshaun ran hard for his first opportunity getting into the game-like atmosphere,” Muschamp said. “Thought he ran through contact, did some nice things.”
Fenwick also received praise from fellow running back A.J. Turner who emphasized the bond the two running backs have.
"I'm real proud because he's one of my friends," Turner said. "He's a younger guy, I always try to be around the younger guys, hang out with them, kind of create this bond, I feel like me and Fenwick really have a bond, so being able to just see him do that, it was a lot. I was really excited for him. It's his first game."
The South Carolina running backs will look to use this momentum next Saturday as they travel to face arch-rival Clemson (11-0, 8-0 ACC) in the 116th game of the Palmetto Bowl starting at 7 p.m.