Shane Beamer not shocked by Vandrevius Jacobs' emergence as South Carolina's leading receiver

Heading into the 2025 season, it was tempting to look at the makeup of South Carolina’s wide receiver room and predict which players would emerge as the group’s go-to options.

Nyck Harbor and Mazeo Bennett, the Gamecocks’ top two returning receivers from last season, were floated around as the most likely candidates to retain those roles. In fact, all six GamecockCentral contributors who participated in a preseason statistical leaders roundtable projected either Harbor or Bennett to have the most receiving yards on the team by season’s end.

That hasn’t been the case through the first five games of the 2025 campaign. Harbor is currently second among South Carolina wideouts with 220 yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions. Bennett, meanwhile, has caught just five passes for 40 yards.

Instead, the Gamecocks’ leader in receiving yards is Vandrevius Jacobs, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Florida State two seasons ago. While that may come as a surprise to many a South Carolina fan, it doesn’t to Shane Beamer.

“I would say that it wouldn’t shock me,” Beamer said after the Gamecocks’ 35-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday. “I know people on the outside are quick to say, ‘Okay, this is your top guy. Here’s your next guy. These two guys are going to be leading receivers.’ It’s not as simple as that.”

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Jacobs entered the season having been a solid contributor to South Carolina’s passing game in 2024. He finished the campaign with 12 receptions and 181 yards in a wide receiver room that possessed more depth than top-heavy quality. His strongest performance came in the Gamecocks’ season opener against Old Dominion, when he caught two passes for 59 yards.

Jacobs’ involvement in the offense increased early in 2025. After failing to record any statistics in its first game against Virginia Tech, he accumulated a combined 87 yards on six catches against South Carolina State and Vanderbilt. His first touchdown reception for South Carolina, on a 35-yard pass from LaNorris Sellers, also came against the Bulldogs.

But then, Jacobs had his breakout game against Missouri. In the second quarter, he found the end zone again — this time, on a 49-yard catch. His 128 receiving yards remain the most any South Carolina receiver has totaled in a single game all season.

That trend continued in the Gamecocks’ victory over Kentucky. Jacobs served as South Carolina’s most productive wideout target, gaining 108 yards on five catches. He also contributed to the team’s longest play on offense: a 59-yard reception at the end of the third quarter.

“Dre did a great job tonight,” Beamer said. “We made him a captain tonight because all that kid does is just work.”

Saturday’s offensive display increased Jacobs’ numbers on the year to 18 receptions, 323 yards and two scores, all of which represent collegiate single-season highs for the third-year wideout. Beamer’s confidence in Jacobs’ ability to continue producing is rooted in his belief that South Carolina has a “really good receiving room.”

“I mean, looking at this stat sheet, Nyck caught one, Dre caught one. And then, two tight ends caught one — and one of those was on a fake punt,” Beamer said. “Certainly, there’s a lot of receivers that I didn’t name that are in that room that we have a lot of confidence in. [We] got to continue to get those guys involved, for sure.”

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