Mike Davis and his South Carolina teammates ran past the Tar Heels in the season opener. (Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports)
No. 6 South Carolina opened with a lightning as the Gamecocks scored quickly on the first three possessions for a 17-0 lead over North Carolina. Then, things settled and the Gamecocks needed another lightning strike.
That, they received and it more ways than one as the game was delayed for nearly two hours in the fourth quarter due to lightning strikes in the Columbia area.
UNC had just opened the second half by driving into the South Carolina red zone, but only getting a field goal. The stadium was much more silent than in the beginning and all of a sudden the 81,000 strong were looking for that bolt of fire.
Running back sensation Mike Davis answered immediately as he took a hand off around the right end and ran 75 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter which handed South Carolina a 27-10 win in it’s season opener over the outmanned Tar Heels.
“The first half, we had five possessions and scored on four of them, so that’s not too shabby,” noted Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, “The second half, we didn’t do much of anything. Mike Davis’ run was about it. We had a good little running game going.”
What South Carolina proved on Thursday night was that it has a strong running game with the speed and power of Davis who can hit the ends immediately and then Brandon Wilds, a surprisingly tall 6-2 ball carrier who can shed blocks and thrive as a power runner between the tackles. Davis finished with 115 yards on 12 carries while Wilds and quarterback Connor Shaw had 64 and 55 yards each as they both carried 12 times in USC’s ground assault.
“I think it’s good for both of us,” Davis said of an impending one-two punch in the backfield with Wilds, “We don’t have to take that much pounding. We can both come in and show different styles.”
Davis started rolling immediately in the game as he provided an early running attack that allowed Shaw to hit Shaq Roland on a 65-yard touchdown pass only three plays into the game. Then, Spurrier substituted Dylan Thompson for Shaw for one play and Thompson hit Kane Whitehurst on a 29-yard strike to the right corner of the end zone.
“Our offense wasn’t very good in the fourth quarter, but we did some good running and obviously hit some big plays in the game,” summarized Spurrier, “We had some good plays and had a lot of bad play. We only had 59 plays, and they ended with 79.”
Obviously, South Carolina was able to put the game into a semi-cruise control mode upon getting the quick 17-0 lead. With that, Spurrier and his staff didn’t need to show very much more on either side of the ball with the impeding showdown with Georgia looming next week.
“It’s a hometown game, UGA for me,” said Davis, a Lithonia, Ga. native, “I can’t wait. I already have had guys call me and tell me they are going to beat us. I’m going to show all my emotions that game.”
