Vicari Swain makes history with back-to-back punt return touchdowns for South Carolina
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South Carolina might just have the best punt returner in college football this year.
Last week, Vicari Swain saved the Gamecocks in their Week 1 win over Virginia Tech with a clutch punt return touchdown.
This week, against South Carolina State, Swain is continuing to elevate his reputation as one of the sport’s most dynamic forces on special teams. He has two punt return touchdowns in the first half alone against South Carolina State, both of which came in the second quarter less than two minutes apart from each other.
Here’s a clip of the first one:
And here’s the second punt return TD to give South Carolina a 14-3 lead late in the first half:
This is Swain’s third season with the Gamecocks but it’s his first as the program’s primary punt returner. He’s also a cornerback for South Carolina who contributed 13 total tackles a year ago.
However, it seems Swain has found his place on special teams. With this level of production, Swain figures to be a valuable specialist for Shane Beamer‘s program for the rest of the 2025 season.
There is some history in this accomplishment as well. Swain is the 7th player from the SEC since the 2000 season to amass 3 punt return touchdowns in a single season. The most for any SEC returner in one campaign is 4, which has been accomplished by 3 different players. He’s also the first South Carolina player with multiple punt return touchdowns in the same game since at least the turn of the century.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
