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South Carolina's Mason Love named one of country's top performers for the weekend

Screenshotby: Kevin Miller10/13/25kevinmillerGC
South Carolina football special teamer Mason Love. Photo by: CJ Driggers | GamecockCentral
South Carolina football special teamer Mason Love. Photo by: CJ Driggers | GamecockCentral

South Carolina lost to LSU this weekend, but a couple of Gamecocks had really nice games. One of them was redshirt freshman punter Mason Love.

Against the Tigers, Love averaged 41.8 yards per kick, a number that was actually lower than his season average. However, all four of his boots pinned LSU inside their own 15-yard line. Three of his kicks were not returnable, and the one time an opposing return man tried to make something happen, he lost eight yards.

For his efforts, the Missouri native earned a spot on the weekly Ray Guy Great 8 list. Each week, the Ray Guy Award recognizes eight standout punters for their performances. With a net average greater than his kick difference and four kicks pinning LSU deep, Love was an easy choice.

Despite being in his first year as a starter, Love has been one of the top punters in the SEC. A virtual shoo-in for Freshman All-SEC honors, he could be in line for Freshman All-American selection, as well.

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From the South Carolina Athletics release:

University of South Carolina punter Mason Love has been selected as one of Ray’s Great 8 by the Ray Guy Award for his efforts at LSU, it was announced today.

Love, a 6-1, 191-pound redshirt freshman from Riverside, Mo., averaged 41.8 yards on four punts at LSU, with all four pinning the Tigers inside their 20-yard line. The Gamecocks had a net of 43.8-yards per punt in the contest. His punts landed at the 15-, 10-, 8- and 10-yard lines. The lone return for the Tigers was for negative eight yards.

For the season, Love is the nation’s second-leading freshman punter. He is averaging 44.8 yards on 24 punts with eight covering 50 or more yards and 10 inside the 20-yard line with just two touchbacks.

Love and the Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3 SEC) will host No. 14/13 Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 SEC) on Saturday, Oct. 18. Game time is set for 12:45 pm and the game will be televised on SEC Network.

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