No Sellers, no problem: South Carolina returns to winning ways in dominant display against Akron

Strong starts to the season have not been South Carolina's forte, dating back to well before Shane Beamer took over as head coach.

Over the last six years, the greatest number of wins the Gamecocks have earned through its first four games is two. South Carolina has accomplished the feat five times during that time frame – only in 2019 did it fail to do so.

But in 2024, the Gamecocks will surpass that mark. After a 50-7 win over Akron on Saturday, South Carolina is off to its best start to a season since 2017.

The biggest question about South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC) was officially answered 30 minutes before kickoff, when it was announced on the scoreboard that Robby Ashford would be starting in place of LaNorris Sellers , who suffered an ankle injury in the team's loss to LSU last weekend. After a shaky start to his Gamecock career, Ashford helped South Carolina pick up an early lead and keep it for the rest of the contest.

The Gamecocks did not score on their first drive of the game, going three-and-out after receiving the opening kickoff. But Ashford led South Carolina to the end zone on its next possession.

He showed his ability to affect the ground game throughout the drive, totaling 61 yards on three carries. After bringing the Gamecocks within striking distance of scoring on a fourth down conversion, Ashford would hand the ball off to Oscar Adaway , whose two-yard touchdown was his first for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks went on two more scoring drives in the first half, with both touchdowns coming on passes from Ashford. Mazeo Bennett was the first beneficiary of an Ashford touchdown pass, scoring a 30-yard touchdown on the next drive. The score even involved some trickery from Kai Kroeger , who ran the ball into the end zone on the subsequent two-point conversion.

South Carolina would punt after another three-and-out on its next possession. But Ashford would orchestrate an 11-play, 80-yard drive to further increase the Gamecocks' lead. A 12-yard completion to Juju McDowell facing fourth-and-one gave the team a 21-0 advantage.

South Carolina's strong offensive first-half showing would be overshadowed by yet another injury to a starter, though. Rocket Sanders exited the game in the first quarter after suffering a lower left-leg injury. He would not play a snap for the remainder of the contest.

Momentum also slightly shifted in Akron's (1-3, 0-0 MAC) direction near the end of the second quarter on two specific plays. After holding the Zips to punts on five straight dives, the Gamecocks' defense surrendered its first points of the game on a 42-yard catch by Adrian Norton. Ashford also lost a fumble on the team's final offensive play of the half.

Ashford would recover from that turnover on South Carolina's first possession of the second period. He fired passes of 44 and 28 yards to Gage Larvadain and Bennett, respectively, to bring the Gamecocks to the opposing four-yard line. Two plays later, Adaway cashed in his second score of the game from one-yard out.

Adaway's touchdown was not the Gamecocks' last of the night, though. South Carolina would add 21 points to the scoreboard during the fourth quarter. Those points came on a 36-yard run by Ashford, a nine-yard pass from Davis Beville Connor Cox and a 23-yard run by Jawarn Howell .

By game's end, Ashford would emerge as the Gamecocks' leader in all purpose yards. He finished the contest with a 71.4% completion percentage (15-21), 243 passing yards and two scores through the air. Ashford added another 133 yards and one touchdown on 16 rushing attempts.

While the offense operated relatively smoothly behind a new signal caller, it was business as usual for its defense, which put up another strong performance as a unit.

The Gamecocks allowed just 84 yards of offense to the Zips outside of the visitor's lone scoring drive in the second quarter. South Carolina also forced one turnover in the fourth quarter on an interception from DQ Smith .

The Gamecocks recorded an additional two sacks, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hits, all of which were rewards from the consistent pressure it placed on Akron's offense.

What's next?

After four straight weeks of regular season action, South Carolina will head into its first of two bye weeks this year. The Gamecocks will return to the field on Oct. 5, when it takes on No. 5 Ole Miss at Williams-Brice Stadium.