Two of South Carolina's top receivers in 2024 missing in action early in 2025

When South Carolina entered the 2025 season, many expected wide receivers Mazeo Bennett Jr. and Jared Brown to play large roles on offense.

Through three games, the pair have combined for only six catches and 48 yards, with neither finding the endzone yet.

A season ago, they combined for 13 receptions, 186 yards and a touchdown through the season’s first three games. Additionally, they each led the team in receiving yards in either of the two SEC games.

Get GamecockCentral for $1 your first week. As a bonus, your membership includes a complimentary year of The Athletic.

Brown picked up his first two receptions of the year against Vanderbilt a week ago. Meanwhile, Bennett added two more catches to the two receptions he made against South Carolina State.

Bennett entered the 2025 season as the Gamecocks’ No. 2 returner in terms of receiving yards (337) from a season ago. Brown wasn’t far behind in third (244).

Backup quarterback Luke Doty knows when Bennett’s on the field, he’s someone he can trust.

“I think, (if) you want to talk to Coach (Shane) Beamer or Coach (Mike) Furrey about that, feel free,” Doty said. “For us, it doesn’t matter who’s on the field, you have to do your job. … Like Coach Beamer says, there’s competition going on at every single position.”

Both wideouts started the season banged up heading into the season opener against Virginia Tech. While Bennett is listed as questionable on South Carolina’s first injury report, Brown is seemingly all good injury-wise.

However, injuries are not the reason the duo has struggled to see the field in 2025, according to Beamer. The team has a lot of playmakers on offense this season, and there’s only one football to go around.

“And we knew going into the season that we had more playmakers, if you will, at the tight end position, the running back position and the receiver position than we’ve had here in my time as the head coach,” Beamer said. ” I feel like we have more depth at all those positions, and more people that want the ball.”

Despite Wednesday’s injury report, Beamer said on Tuesday he thinks all of his guys are healthy in that group.

“And again, we signed seven receivers last year,” Beamer said. “And they’re all pretty good players to go along with the ones that we brought back.”

Among those freshmen, Donovan Murph and Brian Rowe Jr. have emerged as key receivers. The pair earned their first career starts against South Carolina State. Murph ranks second on the team in receiving yards (94), trailing only Nyck Harbor (165).

Beamer emphasized that catches come down to a game-by-game basis. There may be a game where Bennett catches 10 passes, there may be some where he catches none. The same goes for everyone else in the room.

Additionally, the team has to stay on the field offensively so that those playmakers get opportunities to move the ball.

“We’ve got a lot of playmakers that we want to get the ball,” Beamer said. “Mazeo is one of our best players. He’s in a wide receiver room with a lot of competition in that room.”

The fifth-year head coach told his players after practice that the people who are going to be out there on Saturdays are those who give the team the best chance to win. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been here, where they’re from, or their scholarship status; everyone is treated equally.

“And we got a lot of confidence and high expectations for JB, for Mazeo, for all those receivers. And there’s only one ball to go around,” Beamer said. “We want to make sure that we’re doing everything each week to maximize all of our playmakers and get as many touches for those guys as we can.”

Beamer acknowledged that Bennett and Brown were impact guys when the Gamecocks faced Vanderbilt a season ago. The pair of wideouts are leaders within the offense, and he and his staff need to keep them going.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!