MarShawn Lloyd ‘ran the ball with bad intentions.’ That’s great news for Gamecocks

MarShawn Lloyd speaks with the guise of a wily veteran. Three years of college will do that.

He tends to lean on clichés in press conference settings, more often choosing to highlight his teammates rather than his own ability. Really, it’s rare that Lloyd will ever talk about himself.

But Saturday was a night to celebrate South Carolina’s starting tailback. It was a night to forget about the high school recruiting hype and injury issues. It was a night that, after three years and countless hurdles, Lloyd’s physical leap over an opposing defensive back ensured that he had to talk about his own play — even if only for a second.

“That’s what I came to South Carolina for — the energy, to win,” the redshirt sophomore said after USC’s 55-20 throttling of Charlotte. “We got a great overall team win and I’m super excited about that.”

Backtrack from his airborne acrobatics for a moment. Let’s refresh, shall we?

Lloyd’s story is well-documented. He was a borderline five-star recruit in the class of 2019. He spurned Georgia and Penn State in a surprise commitment to South Carolina. A torn ACL during fall camp his freshman year, however, ended his inaugural campaign before it could even begin. Then came being buried on the depth chart behind Kevin Harris and ZaQuandre White a year ago.

Now? It’s Lloyd’s backfield in Columbia, and Saturday was proof.

Lloyd smirks when asked about Charlotte safety Wayne Jones. He assures there’s no ill-will toward the one-time Kansas State transfer. Jones never stole Lloyd’s lunch money in a past life or said something he shouldn’t have pregame.

But, man, it sure looked like Jones did something to awaken a sleeping monster.

Said head coach Shane Beamer: “He ran the ball with bad intentions tonight.”

Three times Lloyd scored on Saturday. Three times he went past, through, or — literally — over Jones to get to pay dirt.

There was the crippling sidestep Lloyd hit him with on his third touchdown scamper. His second score included bowling over Jones with such power it looked as though it could’ve been induced by the a flick of an Xbox joystick.

Then there was the jump.

Darting through a hole wide enough to drive a Mack truck through in Saturday’s second quarter, Lloyd reached the second level of the Charlotte defense and squared-up Jones.

With a plant and a leap, Lloyd went airborne. He cleared Jones with the ease of an Olympic hurdler. Lloyd promptly landed, planted and cut back to the left sideline as he outraced the rest of the 49ers defense to the pylon for the first highlight-reel touchdown of his Gamecocks career.

Lloyd laughed when asked the last time he leaped over a player. High school, he said. A game between his DeMatha squad and archrival Gonzaga. “I still hate them to this day,” Lloyd added, chuckling.

“One thing we wanted to do was we wanted to be able to run the ball and show people we can run the ball a little bit,” quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “We definitely showed that tonight.”

South Carolina has had its issues offensively. The line had largely continued its wayward ways from 2021 into this fall. Rattler, as golden-armed as he is, has had moments that make you scratch your head and wonder, “What on earth is he seeing?”

That amounted to a 1-2 start with losses to a pair of Top 10 teams in Arkansas and Georgia.

Saturday, though, was different.

The Gamecocks gashed the 49ers for 295 yards on the ground — 169 of which were attributed to Lloyd. South Carolina’s trio of tailbacks in Lloyd, Christian Beal-Smith and Juju McDowell combined for six rushing touchdowns. Even Rattler was surgical in a quiet night, finishing 17 for 23 passing for 187 yards, an effort that barely registered a blip in the grander scheme of the win.

But throughout those varying offensive storylines, it was Lloyd’s star that shined brightest.

His 169-yard effort, as impressive as it was, won’t sit atop any record books. Technically, it ranks 32nd among the best single-game rushing outputs in school history.

There have been bigger nights, bigger moments at WIlliams-Brice Stadium, but few as cathartic.

We’ve heard for months about Lloyd’s potential game-breaking ability as a runner. We’d seen it in spurts, even. He flashed an ability to get sideline-to-sideline and downhill against Georgia’s swarming defense. His 46 yards in last year’s upset of Florida helped provide an additional spark alongside Harris and White’s 100-yard outings.

This, though, was the Lloyd we’ve waited for — even he’ll only spend so much breathe gassing himself up.