South Carolina Gamecocks positional previews: Running back

Who's gone

Mike Davis (now playing with the 49ers)

Who's back

Brandon Wilds, David Williams, Shon Carson

Who's new

A.J. Turner, Mon Denson, Darius Paulk, Rod Talley

Key Stat

Here is the deal. This year will be completely different IMHO. We know Coach Spurrier will do whatever it takes to win whether it's on the ground or through the air.

Last year, Mike Davis had 1350 yards and 11 TDs. In some games (especially Kentucky) he could have had more yards, but we relied more on Dylan Thompson than our running backs. Dylan had 451 pass attempts, which nearly doubled all the RB's rushing attempts.

In 2014, Brandon Wilds was the 2nd RB. He had over 700 yards and 5 TD's while running through, and around defenders. He ran like a beast up the middle and averaged 5.4 rushing yards per carry. His average ypc was better than Davis's too. Wilds went off in the UT game last year like this 70 yard TD run.

The Scoop

You won't find Brandon Wilds pudgy and outta shape eating some cheese puffs playing Xbox until the sun comes up. No. Mr. Wilds is in shape. He's humble and he's ready to rumble. Last year, Wilds actually outdid Mike Davis in a lot of big games like Texas A&M, Georgia and Tennessee. I fully expect Wilds to dazzle Gamecock fans this years and according to practice reports, he is doing great.

David Williams is the running back that everyone is salivating over since he stepped foot on campus. Last year, he raised eyebrows when he got outside the perimeter. One thing that is scary about Williams is that he can catch the ball too. With his speed and abilities, don't be shocked to see him the wild cat some.

My prediction is that defenses will challenge us to throw the ball with our green quarterbacks. However, make no bones about it. We've got talent on this offense. And, you'll see a lot of Wilds and Williams (aka Bash and Dash) to start out the year. Anyways, it's completely acceptable to cry tears of joy if we do run more to kill the clock!