Skip to main content
South Carolina

Nyck Harbor only getting better with more opportunities coming his way

imageby: Jack Veltri10/30/23jacktveltri
nyck-harbor-only-getting-better-with-more-opportunities-coming-his-way
Nyck Harbor (C.J. Driggers/GamecockCentral)

Nyck Harbor ran 10 yards and cut back in. It was the perfect route. He had plenty of separation between himself and the defender to make an easy first down catch.

But as Spencer Rattler’s pass came his way, the ball went through his hands and out of bounds. Instead of keeping the opening drive alive, it was now fourth down.

Harbor, upset with himself, walked back to the sideline. But his teammates knew he’d have another shot to make a play. Even Rattler told him, “Hey man, I’m coming right back to you.”

“Everybody was telling me to keep my head up and go make the next play. And that’s what I did,” Harbor said.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Jacksonville State football game]

Instead of staying down on himself, Harbor went back to work. He ended up having a great game, finishing with six catches for 59 yards against Texas A&M.

“He had an unbelievable week of practice,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “I told his dad at the team hotel, we do one-on-one receivers versus DB’s on Wednesday in practice, and he had one of the most impressive periods of one-on-one routes.

“I mean, he just continues to get better because he works. Spencer told him, ‘I’m coming back to you.’ I told him on the sideline it’s one play, you’re going to make a ton of plays before the game is out and he certainly did that.”

[$1 for 1 month: Get unlimited access to GamecockCentral’s content and communuity]

After not playing much for most of the year, Harbor has gotten a lot more reps these past two weeks. He’s now up to 10 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown after last Saturday’s performance.

“After the first four games, I feel like you’re getting your feet wet,” Harbor said. “Once you get over like 20 snaps, you know better. You can’t have that freshman mentality. You’ve got to make plays at that point.”

[Newsletters: Get breaking news and analysis from GamecockCentral]

The recent string of success for Harbor hasn’t happened easily, though. He’s had to work even harder to make the transition from defense to offense full-time.

But it seems with the extra time Harbor has put in, he’s only getting better with each game he plays.

“He gets there 30 minutes before practice starts. Gets out there early, catches probably 50 balls,” Rattler said. “After practice, he catches another 50-60 balls. He’s been working hard. And I’m happy to see him starting to (produce). We targeted him a lot this game and he made big plays for us.”

Discuss Gamecocks football on The Insiders Forum!

You may also like