South Carolina triumphs over UNC in Duke’s Mayo Bowl

Shane Beamer earned a mayo bath at the conclusion of the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Beamer’s South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 38-21 on Thursday evening. The win marked the first bowl win for the program since the 2018 Outback Bowl, where they beat the Michigan Wolverines.

Kevin Harris had himself a day in the backfield. The Gamecock running back scampered for 182 yards on a 5.9 yards per carry clip. UNC was unable to corral the ground game as four different players averaged at least 5.9 YPC on the day. Juju McDowell averaged a team-best 10.4 on five carries, earning a touchdown run as well.

Jaheim Bell also stood out for South Carolina. The Gamecock tight end scored two touchdowns and hauled in 159 receiving yards on just five receptions. This included a 69-yard reception that went for the first touchdown of the day.

For how things looked for SC at times, a 7-6 finish is definitely optimism-inducing. While they went just 3-5 in SEC play and lost to Clemson, they still nabbed a win to sail above .500 on the season. We’ll see if they can make up any ground on that in 2022, considering they have Spencer Rattler coming around next season.