Mazeo Bennett Jr. didn’t need much room to remind South Carolina what he can do.
On a scorching afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium, LaNorris Sellers hit Bennett for an 18-yard touchdown against Kent State, and the junior wideout celebrated like a weight had finally been lifted. He went up with both arms raised, then soaked up helmet taps and high fives from teammates after crossing the goal line.
The score came 693 days after Bennett’s last touchdown - nearly two years - and it marked a small but meaningful flash of the player South Carolina thought it was getting.
“Mazeo has worked really, really hard,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “He has a high standard for himself. He has a high standard for this team … so it’s good to see him have some success … really, really proud of him and the way he’s working right now.”
Bennett finished with three catches for 38 yards in the 57-0 win, though the blowout meant Beamer could sit him for much of the second half. The more revealing part may be what comes next. A Sept. 12 matchup with Towson could offer another glimpse, but Bennett’s real chance to prove himself again figures to come in SEC play, where he’ll try to show 2025 was an outlier.
That would be a sharp turn from last season’s slide. Bennett’s freshman year in 2024 had looked like the start of something real: he hauled in 30 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns, ranking third on the team in receiving yards and second among receivers. He also grabbed his first SEC touchdown that year.
Then came the stall. In 2025, Bennett’s role shrank badly. He dropped a pass in the opener, then ended the year with just 10 receptions for 62 yards and no touchdowns.
Wide receivers coach Mike Furrey said the experience forced everyone to look harder at what matters.
"I've learned a lot through that whole situation last year," Furrey said. "Just trying to find the right people to help us in games, win games, maybe be a little more explosive or whatever it is from a skill standpoint. But you got to go back to the passion, the love, the consistency, what this place means to a young man, and that's Mazeo Bennett."
South Carolina’s struggles weren’t limited to Bennett. He and Sellers had been part of a Beamer-best nine-win team in 2024, but the Gamecocks dropped to 4-8 a year later. The offense averaged 336.3 total yards, second-worst in the SEC, and offensive coordinator Mike Shula was fired after nine games.
Bennett said the downturn changed the mood around the program.
“I feel like last year was something that we all needed,” Bennett said. “Coming off the 2024 year, all of us were in the sky and we were ready to go into 2025 thinking everything was going to be handed to us. Going through what we went through, it kind of humbled everybody in a way.”
Even with his production disappearing, Bennett never entered the transfer portal. That mattered to Beamer, who pointed out that the junior handled the disappointment without turning it into a public complaint.
Bennett came to South Carolina as a four-star signee in the 2024 class and the No. 4 player in the state by the 247Sports Composite. Before landing in Columbia, he had offers from Texas A&M, Florida and Alabama, and he originally committed to Tennessee in October 2022 before decommitting two months later and choosing the Gamecocks.
“He's very serious about his work, he's very competitive,” Beamer said. “Last season I know didn't go the way that he wanted it to, as far as his role, but he didn't pout, he didn't complain, he didn't threaten to transfer. It was the competitiveness in him that came right back out.”
Bennett said leaving when things get rough isn’t his way.
“I’m not the type of guy that leaves when things get hard,” Bennett said. “When you go through life, you have to go through things to make you stronger as an individual … everything that’s bad that happens to you is going to help you in the future, it’s something you’re going to learn and grow from.”
Through one game under new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, South Carolina has already shown more punch. The Gamecocks piled up 645 total yards against Kent State, the most in the Beamer era and fifth-most all time.
Bennett’s workload has already ticked up too. He had never been targeted more than four times in a game last season, and he topped that with five against Kent State. He believes the player he is now is not the same one who entered the program a year ago.
“Whatever happened last year, whatever the case may be, I know it had nothing to do with me,” Bennett said. “I know that I'm still the same player, 10 times better than I was my freshman year, and I'm just really, truly waiting on my opportunity to show that I'm better than I was.”
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