South Carolina running back commit Brayden Tyson is wasting no time making his senior season count.
Three games into the year at Brookwood High School, the 6-foot, 235-pound Tyson has piled up 361 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 55 carries. That works out to 6.6 yards per attempt and 120.3 yards per game, a strong opening stretch for the four-star back.
Tyson opened the season with a bang in Brookwood’s game against Cambridge in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, rushing for 93 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He followed that up a few weeks later against Mill Creek with 117 yards and two scores on 17 carries. Then, in Friday’s 35-point win over South Gwinnett, he again led Brookwood on the ground with 151 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
The production has added to an already eye-catching high school resume. Over four years, Tyson has totaled 4,418 rushing yards and 53 touchdowns in 34 games. He has also contributed as a receiver, catching 46 passes for 645 yards and five touchdowns.
Tyson has been locked in with South Carolina since May 15, choosing the Gamecocks over Florida State, Miami, Rutgers and Purdue from a final group of five. His recruitment also included offers from Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Tennessee, among others.
"Honestly, it felt like home and that's just where I wanted to be," Tyson said in an interview with Gamecock247 following his commitment.
"Everywhere else didn't feel like South Carolina. It didn't feel like home."
Brookwood head coach Chad Nighbert said South Carolina is getting a back whose game keeps growing.
"Every single part of his game has just gotten better," Nighbert said in an interview with Gamecock247. "He continues to work on his weaknesses, and he strives to get better every single day.
He's not one of those guys that's really good, and then he just takes it easy at practice. He goes in and works constantly to do anything that's a problem, whether it's blocking or pass protection, or whatever it is.
He's always been skilled to be a running back and to have good vision, that kind of stuff. But he continues to improve even on that stuff."
"It's the total package," he added. "It's what you want out of a back.
It's a person that can catch the ball coming out, but he can also run people over. He can also run around people, and obviously, he can run away from people, which is why he has so many big runs."
In Other News...
South Carolina May Have Found A Backfield Weapon Fans Werent Expecting
South Carolinas backfield got an unexpected spark in its Week 1 win over Kent State, and it came from a player who had yet to take an offensive snap in a Gamecocks uniform. Jabree Coleman, the Penn State transfer who redshirted last season, made his collegiate offensive debut look easy, piling up 77 yards on just four carries while finding the end zone twice in a game where the ground attack set the tone.
Coleman said the moment was everything he had hoped for, and he was quick to point to the offensive line for making the night possible. It also fit neatly into a dominant team performance on the ground, with South Carolinas running backs combining for 278 rushing yards and four touchdowns, a reminder that the Gamecocks may already have more depth in the backfield than many expected. [Read more 🡒]
Gamecocks Pass Rush Finally Gets A Very Different Week 2 Test
Kent States passing game last week offered a very different kind of challenge for a pass rush, with Dru DeShields getting the ball out in 2.4 seconds on 23 dropbacks. The Golden Flashes kept things compact, leaning on short passes with an average depth of target of 2.5 yards and only four throws that traveled more than nine yards downfield, the sort of script that can take a defenses sacks out of the equation.
Towson should ask more questions of South Carolina in Week 2, though, because Andrew Indorf has been willing to push the ball deeper and his profile comes with a much higher average depth of target. For a Gamecocks front trying to build on its early work, that creates a different kind of test: less about beating a rapid-fire release and more about staying disciplined when the ball starts traveling farther downfield. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Faces An Early Depth Test In First Night Game
South Carolina gets its first night game of the season Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium, and the matchup with Towson arrives with the Gamecocks carrying real momentum from a 57-0 rout of Kent State. They are favored again against a Towson team that is 0-2, but the bigger early-season question for Shane Beamers group is less about the opponent and more about how the roster holds up under another game.
The injury picture adds some intrigue to what should be a comfortable home date. Dylan Stewart and Jacarrius Peak are both doubtful to play, which puts a little more pressure on the depth chart as South Carolina looks to keep its start on track under the lights. Fans who want to follow along will need the streaming option, since the game is set for SEC Network Plus. [Read more 🡒]