No. 23 South Carolina's charge powered by Raheim 'Rocket' Sanders

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina tailback Raheim Sanders has proven the past few weeks why he's got the well-earned nickname, “Rocket.”

When he gets going, Sanders is near impossible to catch.

“When I see that green grass, I think, ‘Man, lovely,’” Sanders said after gaining 126 yards and scoring two touchdowns in a 28-7 win at then-No. 24 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The newly ranked No. 23 Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) hope Sanders' jet-propelled showings continue down the stretch, starting Saturday against No. 24 Missouri (7-2, 5-2).

Sanders averaged 8.2 yards a rush against the improved Commodores. He had scoring runs of 33 and 1 yard, plus he added a 43-yard TD catch from LaNorris Sellers for a Gamecocks squad almost no one in the SEC wants to face right now.

It was the latest of several significant performances for the Arkansas transfer, who finished second in Southeastern Conference rushing with 1,443 yards and with 10 touchdowns for the Razorbacks two years ago.

Sanders has run for five of his 10 touchdowns this season in South Carolina's past three victories at Oklahoma (35-9) and against ranked opponents in then-No. 10 Texas A&M (44-20) and the Commodores.

He had a season best 144 yards rushing against the Aggies.

"The key thing is trusting it, on the field, trusting it and being very coachable has helped me out a lot," Sanders said.

The game, Sanders believes, is coming back to him after he struggled to reach the field in 2023. He was looking to build on his All-SEC season, but played just six games as injuries kept on the sidelines. When the season ended and Sanders sought a fresh start, he connected with South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who held a similar role for the Razorbacks when Sanders was there.

What Sanders found is a rising, young, dual-threat quarterback in Sellers who can keep defenses guessing and an offensive line that has been largely healthy and cohesive.

“I feel like the key thing is talking to them every day,” Sanders said. "I feel more comfortable talking to them every day outside of football as well. That's what's making us a better unit.

“When you work as a unit,” Sanders continued, “the sky's the limit."

Loggains said in the offseason that Sanders may have put on too much weight, getting to more than 240 pounds, and that may have led to some injury issues. These days, Sanders is at a speedy 230 pounds.

“If I hadn't had the year away from him the two years we spent together at Arkansas, it feels and looks like that same player that has juice, that has size, that is a professional,” Loggains said.

The work has significantly improved South Carolina's rushing profile. The Gamecocks are fifth overall in the SEC at more than 180 yards rushing a game — nearly 100 more than a year ago when they were last in the league at 85.1 yards a game.

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said that improvement comes from many areas of growth, including Sellers' versatility, the maturing of the offensive line and the offensive staff coming up with niftier schemes to take advantage of Sanders' strengths.

Sanders appeared to take off in September when he had 143 yards and two touchdowns in a heart-breaking 36-33 loss to then-No. 14 LSU after the Gamecocks led 17-0. But Sanders hurt an ankle in that game and had only nine carries in the next two contests, which included a 27-3 loss to Mississippi.

Steadily, Sanders called on his offseason work ethic to get himself back on the field and playing like he and his coaches knew he could.

“He's just been very convicted and driven to do the things that he needed to do to be a great player,” Beamer said. “It's good to see him having the success that he's having right now.”

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Pete Iacobelli, The Associated Press