With no MarShawn Lloyd, this Gamecocks back has ‘done some really good things’
When South Carolina football’s star freshman running back MarShawn Lloyd went down with a torn ACL just a few practices into preseason camp, the Gamecocks were left with somehow even more questions at a position already in flux.
Amidst that uncertainty, it seems Zaquandre White will get the chance to provide some answers.
White, the top-ranked junior college running back in the class of 2020, didn’t get to USC until the end of July, meaning he hasn’t had much time to get up to speed on new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s playbook.
But he does boast elite athleticism and talent — out of high school, White was a top-10 recruit at his position and signed with Florida State. After a redshirt season and the departure of the coaching staff who recruited him, led by head coach Jimbo Fisher, White moved to linebacker under Willie Taggert, where he played 11 games and recorded 22 tackles.
The position change didn’t stick, however, as he transferred to Iowa Western Community College and switched back to tailback.
Now, he might be one of the best options for South Carolina and coach Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks had been hoping that Lloyd would be able to fill the void left by the departure of USC’s top three rushers from a year ago — Carolina returns 353 of 1,796 rushing yards from 2019, just 19.7%.
On Wednesday, Muschamp said he’s liked what he’s seen from White thus far.
“Zaquandre has done some really good things, watching him move around,” Muschamp said. “He’s extremely intelligent, the maturity, you know, it was interesting ... Zaquandre signed with Florida State out of high school, so I called Jimbo just to kind say, ‘Hey, you know, what happened?’ And Jimbo and (running backs coach) Jay Graham, they loved him.
“Sometimes, when there is a coaching change and ... the head coach is not there anymore, the coach that recruits you is not there, the position coach is not there. And sometimes, young men lose their way a little bit, as far as ‘Where I am in this process and this transition?’ I think that’s what happened with Zaquandre.”
Those issues haven’t followed him to South Carolina, Muschamp said.
“He’s been great. Our guys love him. He’s come in the building and worked extremely hard,” Muschamp said.
Behind White, South Carolina has only three scholarship running backs left, none older than a redshirt sophomore and with a combined 64 career carries between them.
When asked what his biggest concern about the entire team was Wednesday, Muschamp cited the running back position as one of his top areas and explained one of the issues facing the young unit.
“(Redshirt sophomore DeShaun Fenwick) has some really good days as far as our first six practices. (Sophomore) Kevin Harris has done a good job and (freshman) Rashad Amos is a really talented young player,” Muschamp said. “He needs to continue to come on mentally ... and I met with our leadership group this morning, and I emphasized to them — This is the time of camp, you’re working into that seventh, eighth, ninth practice, where young players especially have a hard time continuing to burn and strain and really push themselves. And really where you lose more than anything is mentally, it’s not physically.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 8:45 AM with the headline "With no MarShawn Lloyd, this Gamecocks back has ‘done some really good things’."
