COLUMBIA — It was there, as he shot through the line with nary an opposing hand on him, then shifted into rocket mode and blasted past LSU’s trailing defense to the end zone.
That was why he was recruited to South Carolina, understandably sitting his first year while Raheim Sanders and LaNorris Sellers handled the rushing load and then getting a piddly seven carries in the Gamecocks’ first four games of 2025.
He carried USC to a win over Kentucky the week after those, most of his load in the fourth quarter to cement the win, and when he got the ball in the final minute of the first quarter in Baton Rouge, he didn’t slow down until he leaped from the 3-yard line and tumbled into the end zone. Touchdown, Gamecocks, touchdown, Matt Fuller, 72 yards, and how ya like me now?
And then he didn’t get the ball. Not once in the second quarter. He got it three times on the first drive of the third, after coach Shane Beamer had implored his offensive coaches to, “give the freakin’ ball to Matt Fuller in the second half, and let’s get him back in the game.”
Then twice more as USC lost 20-10. As perplexing as the Gamecocks’ offense was last season, as mystifying as to how a program with so much going for it could tumble so appallingly from a 9-4 2024 to 4-8 in 2025 …
How Fuller didn’t get the ball more after that beautiful scamper to the end zone at LSU was perhaps the most flummoxing wonder of all.
He sat there nine months later and demurred. Bombastic on the field but affable off it, he understood the question and its potential repercussions.
Why say what he felt then right now?
“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.
There was no question he was coming back, at least, not to him. Others could whisper and rumor-monger all they wanted to but he was coming back for the most basic reason: He loves it here.
And while there are three weeks of camp left …
Matt Fuller stands to be what many thought he should have been after that run last year.
“He’s got all the potential in the world. He’s got the talent, he’s got the power, he’s got the speed,” running backs coach Stan 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.”
He was third on the team last year, posting 260 yards (3.6 per) on 72 attempts, and with Rahsul Faison (first) and Oscar Adaway (fourth) gone, he’s only behind Sellers coming into this year.
The room with him is talented and deep — Jawarn Howell and Isaiah Augustave returning from 2025, transfers Christian Clark and Jabree Coleman imported — and it’s likely three and perhaps four backs could play per game. The days of the 40-carry-a-game bell-cow back are long since past; Beamer and Kendal Briles have each spoken of how running back by committee doesn’t have to be a bad thing because the goal is saving a group of healthy backs for the entire season, not just burning one in one game.
Still, it’s always a question of when to stick to the script and when to ride the lathered-up mustang, and Fuller has never really had the chance to show he can be the latter.
He brushed that aside, too.
“I just want to win,” Fuller said. “If I set a goal, it’ll come by itself as we’re winning.”
Christian Clark and Fuller’s career mirror each other, running backs just waiting on a chance to show what they can do. Clark’s came last year as Texas faced Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, where he rushed 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown in a Longhorns win.
Now they’re competing for the same spot.
“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 didn’t want to put the “1” on his back for any future consideration and definitely didn’t confirm that he’s being thought of as the starter. Nothing’s decided.
He also wasn’t shy about pointing out what he feels he needs to work on.
“I can run the ball, but you’ve got to know where you can block,” he said. “You’ve got to protect.”
He plans to, and he is being planned to. And once he gets that top spot, Fuller will protect it all season long.