The South Carolina football team returned to its winning ways with a 50-7 victory over the Akron Zips on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“This was obviously a tough week coming off last Saturday,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “(I'm) really proud of our guys and they responded and went right back to work on Sunday… It’s a testament to them.”
The Zips offense picked up the initial first down of the game on their opening play after the Gamecocks went three-and-out on their first drive. That would be Akron’s only first down of the first quarter, though, as South Carolina's defense would stymie the Zips' offense for the remainder of the quarter.
The Gamecocks took a 7-0 advantage after their offense returned to the field for a seven-play, 85-yard drive that ended when redshirt senior running back Oscar Adaway III punctuated the run-heavy possession with a two-yard touchdown score. The lead then grew to 15-0 before the end of the quarter after a 30-yard touchdown reception from freshman wide receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. and a successful two-point conversion by fifth-year punter Kai Kroeger.
The Gamecocks stretched the lead late in the half to 22-0 after a fourth-down attempt turned into a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Juju McDowell.
The Zips responded with a 42-yard touchdown pass of their own, ending the Gamecocks' shut-out attempt and making it a 22-7 game at the half.
South Carolina’s offense stagnated for much of the third quarter until a 28-yard pass to Bennett Jr. set up Adaway III's second touchdown of the night to extend the Gamecock lead to 29-7 before the start of the fourth.
The Gamecocks opened the fourth quarter with another touchdown drive led by Ashford. He completed a 27-yard pass to sixth-year wide receiver Dalevon Campbell and later finished off the drive with a 36-yard rushing touchdown. The offense kept humming along when South Carolina’s backups entered the game, scoring two more times before the end of the game.
Ashford showcases arm strength and running ability
Ashford collected a career-high 376 total yards of offense against the Zips, including 243 passing yards and 133 rushing yards to go alongside his three total touchdowns.
“I can’t say enough about Robby and the way he played and prepared and performed tonight,” Beamer said.
The backup quarterback stepped up after redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers, the team's previous starting signal caller, went down with an ankle injury the week prior against LSU. South Carolina's game plan didn’t change to accommodate the new quarterback, Bennett Jr. and McDowell said.
Ashford said his performance against Akron provided him with confidence, as well as an opportunity to prove doubters wrong.
“A lot of people have talked down on me. It’s a lot of folks telling me I can’t do something that sit on their couch and type on their phone," Ashford said. "It’s meant a lot to be able to come out here and have a performance like that, but like I keep saying, this performance wouldn’t happen without my teammates.”
Ashford came into tonight’s game knowing he didn’t have to win it all on his own, Bennett said.
“When he went out there and had that mindset, he went out there and performed and did his thing," Bennett said.
Gamecocks' offense stays confident on fourth down
South Carolina went down another starter on its opening drive of the game. Senior running back Rocket Sanders was forced to exit the contest after the opening drive. The Gamecocks' offense was forced to play the rest of the game without their starting running back, along with Sellers and Jared Brown, who was South Carolina's leading wide receiver before Saturday.
Those losses would not falter the confidence of the Gamecocks' offense. It would convert two of its three fourth-down attempts in the first half. South Carolina picked up its first two fourth downs but failed to reach the yard to gain on the third after Ashford turned the ball over on a fumble.
Even after South Carolina’s starters exited the game, the Gamecocks would convert an additional two fourth downs in the fourth quarter after South Carolina's starters exited the game. The team scored on all three drives orchestrated by its backup players.
Beamer said he wanted to be aggressive throughout the game, even if he hadn’t realized he attempted to move the chains on fourth down five times.
“I think some of those fourth downs certainly were towards the end of the game,” Beamer said. “I feel like I told (offensive coordinator) Dowell (Loggians) tonight on the headphones, 'You got four downs more than I ever have here at South Carolina'… (We) really just wanted to send a message to our offense and defense both that we’re gonna be aggressive and if we don't get it on fourth down, defense we’re counting on you to put the ball down and have our backs.”
Defense remains strong through first four weeks of season
South Carolina’s defense held an opponent to single-digit points for the second time this season, something that has happened only twice during Beamer's head coaching tenure before this season.
Fifth-year edge rusher Kyle Kennard said games like the Gamecocks' win on Saturday are ones the defense should be dominant in.
“If you claim that you’re the kind of defense that we claim we are, then this is the game we put our stamps. It shouldn’t be no question,” Kennard said. “Akron’s a good team, respect to Akron, but we thought that they shouldn’t be on the field with us in the end.”
The Gamecocks entered the game tied for the most sack yards (102) and second-most sacks (12) of all NCAA Division I FBS teams this season and exited the game adding two more sacks for twelve yards to their season total.
What's next?
South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC) will enter its first bye week of the season before welcoming No. 5 Ole Miss (4-0, 0-0 SEC) to Williams-Brice Stadium. A kickoff time has yet to be set for the Oct. 5 matchup, but it will be played either during the late afternoon or night window.