2. South Carolina couldn’t stop thunder and lightning
It is pretty impressive what Illinois has done this season despite some big injuries. The biggest injury of the year was easily running back Kaden Feagin going down.
Feagin was going to be the workhorse running back this season. It was his time to break out, but the injury bug plagued him once again. With our starting running back out, Illinois hasn’t receded into a dark hole. In fact, our running back situation has blossomed in the wake of some tough news.
Josh McCray and Aidan Laughery both had solid 2024 campaigns. Laughery finished the year averaging 6.1 yards per carry. What was most shocking is that McCray wasn’t too far behind him at 5.2 yards per carry. I never thought he would run the ball that well. Egg on my face.
These two were called upon to go up against a tough South Carolina run defense. The Gamecocks only gave up 119.3 yards per game on the ground this season, which ranked No. 23 in the country.
On Tuesday, McCray and Laughery flourished. McCray was the thunder to Laughery’s lightning. The Illinois offensive line did a great job run blocking as well.
McCray finished the game with 13 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns. He almost eclipsed South Carolina’s average rushing yards allowed per game by himself. Laughery was extremely effective too, as he went for 16 carries for 67 yards in the game.
These two great running backs didn’t do this against an average run defense. South Carolina is tough, but they couldn’t handle thunder and lightning. This was an all-time performance by these two ball carriers.