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2018 South Carolina Football Notebook
Football  . 

2018 South Carolina Football Notebook

2018 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCK FOOTBALL NOTES:
 

  • 20 players from this year’s squad have earned their degrees.
  • 42 players made starts during the season, including 13 players who made their first career start.
  • 14 true freshmen saw playing time. Five true freshmen started in the Belk Bowl.
  • The Gamecocks were bowl-eligible for the 14th time in the last 15 years. They elected not to participate in a bowl game following a 6-5 season in 2004, did not receive a bowl invitation following a 6-6 campaign in 2007, and did not qualify for a bowl game following a 3-9 season in 2015.
  • Will Muschamp becomes the first coach to take South Carolina to bowl games in each of his first three seasons. Steve Spurrier’s first three Carolina teams were bowl-eligible, but the 2007 squad did not receive a bowl bid following a 6-6 campaign.
  • With 22 wins, Will Muschamp has won more games in his first three seasons at South Carolina than any coach in school history.
  • Six players won SEC Player of the Week recognition, including D.J. and Dylan Wonnum, who became the first set of brothers to be honored by the league in the same week.
  • The Gamecocks have put together back-to-back seasons of 4 or more SEC wins for the first time since 2012-13 and for just the sixth time in school history.
  • All five of the Gamecocks’ regular-season losses came to teams ranked in the CFP final top 20 (#2, 5, 10, 14, 19).
  • The Gamecocks averaged 30.1 points per game, most since 2014 (32.6).
  • The Gamecocks averaged 152.8 rushing yards per game, most since 2015 (154.7).
  • The Gamecocks averaged 272.8 passing yards per game, most since 2014 (281.6).
  • The Gamecocks averaged 425.6 total yards per game, most since 2014 (442.6).
  • The Gamecocks had five games of 500 or more yards of offense for the first time in school history.
  • The Gamecocks had back-to-back games against Chattanooga and Clemson with 600 yards of offense. It was the first time that has happened in school history and just the 11th and 12th times that Carolina has eclipsed the 600-yard mark.
  • The Gamecocks moved up 62 spots, the nation’s sixth-best increase, in offensive yards per play rankings from 2017 to 2018.
  • The Gamecocks set a single-season school record with five passes of 70 yards or more.
  • The offense allowed 23 sacks after surrendering 29 in 2017 and 41 in 2016. It was the fewest sacks allowed since 2013 (23).
  • Jake Bentley set a single-game school record with 510 yards passing against Clemson. It tied for the eighth-most yards thrown in SEC history.
  • The Gamecocks scored 35 points against the second-ranked Clemson defense, the most points Carolina has scored in the Palmetto series since 1975.
  • Jake Bentley threw 27 touchdown passes, the second-highest mark in school history, two shy of Steve Taneyhill’s school record of 29, set in 1995.
  • Bryan Edwards and Deebo Samuel both went over the 2,000-yard mark for career receiving yards and rank among Carolina’s all-time top 10 in both career receptions and yards.
  • The Gamecocks averaged 4.5 yards per carry after averaging just 3.9 yards a season ago.
  • T.J. Brunson led the team with 106 tackles, the most for a Gamecock since 2015.
  • Deebo Samuel tied an SEC record with his fourth-career kickoff return for a touchdown.
  • The Gamecocks ranked 13th in the nation in net punting at 40.76 yards per punt.
  • Joseph Charlton ranked 13th in the country and set the school record for punting average in a season at 44.8 yards and is the school record holder for career punting average at 44.1.
  • Parker White hit on 13-of-16 field goal attempts, an 81.3 percent accuracy.

 
 
PLAYER RANKINGS ON CAROLINA’S ALL-TIME LIST
 

  • BRYSON ALLEN-WILLIAMS – Career

    • Tackles for Loss – 27.5 – T10th

 

  • JAKE BENTLEY – 2018 Game

    • Yards Passing – 510 vs. Clemson – 1st
    • Pass Attempts – 50 vs. Clemson – T7th
    • Pass Attempts – 47 vs. Georgia – T10th
    • Pass Completions – 32 vs. Clemson – T4th
    • Pass Completions – 30 vs. Georgia – T10th
    • Passing Touchdowns – 5 vs. Clemson – T1st
    • Total Offense – 490 vs. Clemson – 2nd
    • Total Offense – 371 vs. Ole Miss – T10th

 

  • JAKE BENTLEY – 2018 Season

    • Passing Yards – 3,171 – 3rd
    • Pass Attempts – 388 – 7th
    • Pass Completions – 240 – 6th
    • Passing Touchdowns – 27 – 2nd
    • Touchdowns Responsible For – 29 – 4th

 

  • JAKE BENTLEY – Career

    • Passing Yards – 7,385 – 4th
    • Pass Attempts – 972 – 4th
    • Pass Completions – 610 – 3rd
    • Completion Percentage – 62.8 – 2nd
    • Passing Touchdowns – 54 – 3rd
    • Starting Quarterback Wins – 19 – 6th
    • Total Offense – 7,533 – 5th
    • Touchdowns Responsible For – 62 – 4th

 

  • JOSEPH CHARLTON – 2018 Season

    • Punting Average – 44.8 – 1st

 

  • JOSEPH CHARLTON – Career

    • Punting Average – 44.1 – 1st

 

  • BRYAN EDWARDS – Career

    • Receptions – 163 – 5th
    • Receiving Yards – 2,229 – 6th
    • Receiving Touchdowns – 16 – T9th
    • Consecutive Games with a Reception – 38 – 2nd

 

  • DEEBO SAMUEL – 2018 Game

    • Receiving Yards – 210 vs. Clemson – T2nd
    • Touchdown Receptions – 3 vs. Clemson – T2nd

 

  • DEEBO SAMUEL – 2018 Season

    • Receptions – 62 – T9th
    • Receiving Yards – 882 – 10th
    • Receiving Touchdowns – 11 – 2nd
    • Touchdowns Scored – 13 – T4th
    • All-Purpose Yards – 1,478 – 9th

 

  • DEEBO SAMUEL – Career

    • Receptions – 148 – 8th
    • Receiving Yards – 2,076 – 10th
    • Receiving Touchdowns – 16 – T9th
    • Touchdowns Scored – 28 – T4th
    • Kick Return Average – 29.0 – 1st
    • Kickoff Returns for Touchdowns – 4 – 1st
    • All-Purpose Yards – 3,457- 8th

 

  • PARKER WHITE – 2018 Season

    • Points Scored – 84 – T10th

 
 
POST-SEASON HONORS
 
First Team All-America (AFCA)………………………… Deebo Samuel (AP)
Second Team All-America (FWAA)…………………… Deebo Samuel (KR)
Second Team All-America (Phil Steele)…………….. Deebo Samuel (KR)
Freshman All-America (247Sports)…………………. Dylan Wonnum (OL)
First Team All-SEC (Associated Press)……………….. Deebo Samuel (AP)
First Team All-SEC (Coaches)………………… Deebo Samuel (AP and RS)
First Team All-SEC (Phil Steele)……………. Deebo Samuel (WR and KR)
Second Team All-SEC (Associated Press)…………. Deebo Samuel (WR)
Second Team All-SEC (Associated Press)……………….. Zack Bailey (OG)
Second Team All-SEC (Coaches)…………………….. Deebo Samuel (WR)
Second Team All-SEC (Coaches)……………………………. Zack Bailey (OL)
Second Team All-SEC (Coaches)………………………. Joseph Charlton (P)
Second Team All-SEC (Phil Steele)………………………… Zack Bailey (OG)
Second Team All-SEC (Phil Steele)……………………….. T.J. Brunson (LB)
SEC All-Freshman (Coaches)………………………….. Dylan Wonnum (OL)
SEC All-Freshman (Coaches)………………………………. Jaycee Horn (DB)
 
WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
 
Javon Kinlaw – SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week………………….        at Vanderbilt (9/22)
Parker White – SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Week……………….        vs Missouri (10/6)
Jaycee Horn – SEC Freshman of the Week…………………………………….        vs Missouri (10/6)
Joseph Charlton – Ray Guy National Punter of the Week…………………        vs Texas A&M (10/13)
D.J. Wonnum – SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week………………………        vs Tennessee (10/27)
Dylan Wonnum – SEC Freshman of the Week………………………………..        vs Tennessee (10/27)
Deebo Samuel – SEC Special Teams Player of the Week………………….        at Ole Miss (11/3)
Jake Bentley – SEC Offensive Player of the Week……………………………        vs Chattanooga (11/17)
(College Sports Madness)
 
ALL-STAR GAME INVITATIONS
 
Bryson Allen-Williams…………………………………………….. Tropical Bowl
Zack Bailey…………………………………………….. East-West Shrine Game
Dennis Daley…………………………………………………………… Senior Bowl
Rashad Fenton……………………………………….. East-West Shrine Game
Keisean Nixon………………………………………… East-West Shrine Game
Deebo Samuel…………………………………………………………. Senior Bowl