Matt Fuller has spent enough time waiting for his turn that South Carolina can’t really pretend the question doesn’t exist anymore: is he the Gamecocks’ top running back?
The way he ran through LSU last season made the answer feel obvious for a moment. Fuller took a handoff in the final minute of the first quarter in Baton Rouge, burst into the open, and didn’t stop until he launched himself from the 3-yard line and crashed into the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown. It was the kind of run that reminds everybody why he was recruited to Columbia in the first place.
And then, strangely, he barely touched the ball again.
Fuller did not get another carry in the second quarter. He got three on South Carolina’s first drive of the third, after Shane Beamer had pushed his offensive staff to “give the freakin’ ball to Matt Fuller in the second half, and let’s get him back in the game.” Fuller added two more carries after that in a 20-10 loss that fit neatly into the confusion of South Carolina’s 2025 season.
Nine months later, Fuller didn’t bite when asked about it.
“Well, I really didn’t want to get too frustrated, so I really just couldn’t do nothing,” he said.
It didn’t linger at all? You didn’t think about it?
“Yeah, I couldn’t,” he answered.
He said there was never any doubt in his mind that he would return. Others could speculate, but Fuller said he was coming back for the simplest reason of all: he loves it here.
Now, with three weeks left in camp, he’s positioned to become what plenty of people thought he should have been after that LSU run. Running backs coach Stan Drayton sees the ceiling clearly.
“He’s got all the potential in the world. He’s got the talent, he’s got the power, he’s got the speed,” Drayton said.
“He’s learning the game, the game is slowing down for him. He made a big step in that direction this spring.
I just think the best is yet to come with the kid.”
Fuller was third on the team last year with 260 yards on 72 carries, a 3.6-yard average. With Rahsul Faison, who was first on the team, and Oscar Adaway, who was fourth, both gone, Fuller enters this season second on the team only to LaNorris Sellers in returning rushing production.
He is not alone in that backfield, though. South Carolina has a deep room with Jawarn Howell and Isaiah Augustave back from 2025, plus transfers Christian Clark and Jabree Coleman added to the mix. Beamer and Kendal Briles have both talked about how a committee approach at running back does not have to be a weakness, especially when the point is keeping a group fresh across a season instead of grinding one back into the ground.
That leaves a familiar football question: when do you stick with the plan, and when do you ride the hot hand? Fuller has not always had the chance to prove he can be that kind of back.
He isn’t spending much time dwelling on that either.
“I just want to win,” Fuller said. “If I set a goal, it’ll come by itself as we’re winning.”
Clark sounds like a player who understands the same waiting game. His own chance arrived last year in Texas’ Citrus Bowl win over Michigan, when he ran 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Now he and Fuller are battling for the same role.
“Very explosive, very smart football player. More than that, he’s a great teammate.
Encourages all of us, the whole room,” Clark said. “I feel like we complement each other well.
Along with the whole room, we’re all physical. We can all catch the ball and be dynamic with the ball in our hands.”
Fuller did not claim anything is settled, and he did not put the “1” on his back to signal he expects to be the starter. Nothing has been decided yet.
But he was honest about the part of his game that still needs sharpening.
“I can run the ball, but you’ve got to know where you can block,” he said. “You’ve got to protect.”
He expects to work on that. South Carolina expects to keep planning around him. And if Fuller does take the top spot, the Gamecocks may finally start giving him the kind of workload that LSU run hinted at all along.
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Matt Fuller Looks Like South Carolinas RB1 If He Solves This Problem
Matt Fuller enters preseason camp with a real chance to seize South Carolinas lead running back job, and the path is easy to see. The redshirt sophomore flashed enough last season to build momentum, then backed it up in spring practice by being named the teams best offensive player, a strong sign that new running backs coach Stan Drayton has reason to keep leaning his way as the Gamecocks shape their offense for 2026.
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