Photos: South Carolina clobbers 49ers
It was a cathartic Saturday for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks walloped Charlotte 56-20 going away Saturday, using 36 second-half points to cruise to their second victory of the season. It was the first time in nine years South Carolina scored over 50 points as the Gamecocks powered their way past the 49ers. South Carolina did it averaging over eight yards per play with nearly 300 yards on the ground.
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GamecockCentral was on hand for the dominating 36-point win with plenty of photos from it. Check out C.J. Driggers’ and Chris Gillespie’s photos from the action.
South Carolina game story
by Michael Sauls
After a back-and-forth first half, a strong second half performance propelled South Carolina to a 56-20 win over Charlotte.
It’s the first time the Gamecocks have scored 50 points against an FBS opponent since 2013.
The Gamecocks, led by MarShawn Lloyd, were dominant on the ground all game. South Carolina totaled 294 rushing yards and averaged 7.7 yards per rush.
Lloyd was electric all night long, juking Charlotte defenders out of their shoes or just jumping right over them.
Coming into the night Lloyd only had 75 rushing yards to his name and was averaging a measly 2.8 yards per carry.
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He sliced through the 49er defense all game long, totaling 169 yards on the ground and averaging 11.3 yards per carry. Both numbers were career highs.
Six out of sSouth Carolina’s seven touchdowns came via the run game. Lloyd accounted for three touchdowns while Christian Beal-Smith had two and Juju McDowell had one
In the first half, Lloyd’s production was the lone bright spot for South Carolina.
Injury updates
The good news for South Carolina is the Gamecocks won’t be without Dylan Wonnum for a long time but the bad news is the depth at end continues to take hits.
Wonnum hurt his foot late in the week and missed Saturday’s game against Charlotte while Terrell Dawkins will be out 4-6 weeks dealing with a knee injury. He had surgery recently and is going to be out a while.
Shane Beamer said Wonnum had an injury similar to Christian Beal-Smith’s in the preseason but “not nearly as bad.” The hope is to have him back for the South Carolina State game, the latest by the Kentucky game the following week.
