Muschamp mum on MarShawn Lloyd but isn’t worried about thin backfield in spring
South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp didn’t seem too keen on digging in on questions about his four-star, early enrollee freshman running back Marshawn Lloyd.
As he went through a slew of position battles Tuesday ahead of the start of spring practice, he didn’t talk much about the backfield. Asked specifically about expectations for Lloyd and him enrolling early, USC’s coach spent about a minute and 40 seconds on the value of arriving at college in January. He was asked again about how Lloyd might fare.
“He’ll be fine,” Muschamp said.
It’s not much to offer about a player who will likely play heavily into the battle for the Gamecocks’ now-vacant starting spot. The team turning over its top three running backs — and that’s not counting A.J. Turner, who was right in that mix through his first three seasons.
The running backs room is a bit undermanned with a lot of transition.
In addition to those departures, coach Bobby Bentley is taking over the position after one year with the tight ends. He handled backs through Muschamp’s first three seasons. The only returners are Kevin Harris (179 rushing yards, four TDs last year) and Deshaun Fenwick (111 yards), with Lloyd the lone early enrollee.
Muschamp was asked if there was a balance to not overworking the trio in the spring. Work is what they need, he said.
“We need to rep them,” Muschamp said. “There is no doubt about it, especially from the standpoint of just youth concerns. MarShawn and Deshaun haven’t played a lot of snaps in those situations. Adam (Prentice) is a guy that can go back there and play in one-back situations. If we’re in 11 personnel groupings, he certainly is more than capable of doing that.
“Kevin hasn’t played a lot. Kevin’s a true sophomore, so all those guys need as many reps as possible and we certainly don’t need to overwork anybody.”
Prentice is a fullback-tight end who joined the team as a graduate transfer from Colorado State. He allows the Mike Bobo offense to do some different things, and leaving him alone in the backfield appears to be an option.
Lloyd was the No. 42 player in his class nationally. He surprised the recruiting world when he picked USC on Memorial Day over Georgia. He was quiet through much of recruiting process, rarely doing interviews.
The team also has a few seasoned walk-ons to help share the load in fifth-year back Slade Carroll and redshirt freshman Zachariah Doe. They’ll get a couple more bodies in the spring in Rashad Amos (a 1,000-yard back last season) and junior college transfer ZaQuandre White (an All-American on that level).
Muschamp pointed out that the last time Bentley was in charge of the backs, players such as Mon Denson and A.J. Turner stepped up as Rico Dowdle battled injuries. The position had one year with Thomas Brown in charge before he moved on to the NFL with the LA Rams.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 6:45 AM with the headline "Muschamp mum on MarShawn Lloyd but isn’t worried about thin backfield in spring."
