Shane Beamer came in preaching family and a loving atmosphere for the Gamecocks, and after a bit of a slow start, the Gamecocks have roared to a strong finish and secured a bowl berth. The Gamecocks learned Sunday that they’ll face border rival UNC on Dec. 30 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte.

The 6-6 Gamecocks accomplished that it behind an opportunistic defense that has thrived on the turnover, and been among the nation’s leaders throughout the season. South Carolina also won despite using 3 quarterbacks as offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has found a rhythm with St. Francis transfer Jason Brown, who began the season as the 3rd-string QB.

Here are the regular-season superlatives for the Gamecocks:

Team MVP

ZaQuandre White proved his versatility throughout the season, and came up huge in 2 of the biggest wins, first against Florida with 111 rushing yards and then against Auburn when he rushed for 99 yards and caught 3 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. That included big plays of 33 and 16 yards rushing, and receptions of 40 yards and 28 yards, which was a TD. All told, that was more than more than half the Gamecocks’ total yardage.

White began with a burst with 12 carries for 128 yards and a TD in the season opener, but then only had 10 carries the next 2 games. When the Gamecocks have been at their best, White has been in the middle of the big plays.

Offensive MVP

Josh Vann has continued the trend in recent years of the Gamecocks having a solid No. 1 wide receiver, similar to Shi Smith, Bryan Edwards and Deebo Samuel.

Despite the Gamecocks lacking a true No. 2 receiving threat, Vann is still in the top 10 in the SEC in receiving yards per game, and collected more than half of his touchdowns down the stretch against Florida, Missouri and Auburn.

Defensive MVP

Jaylan Foster is not only the defensive MVP, he’s a bona fide All-SEC selection as he is tied for 2nd nationally with 5 interceptions. He’s a key reason the Gamecocks are tied for 10th nationally with 15. Foster has also caused 2 fumbles, broke up 2 passes, and has a quarterback hurry.

Foster has one of the best stories of any player around. The Gardner-Webb transfer came to South Carolina as a walk-on for 2 years before he earned a scholarship during 2020 fall camp.

True Freshman of the Year

Once Marcus Satterfield admitted that it was “driving him nuts” that he didn’t use Juju McDowell more against Georgia, it was confirmed that he was the most valuable true freshman on the team.

McDowell had a breakout game against East Carolina, which makes Satterfield’s point even more valid, since it came before Georgia. Against the Pirates, McDowell on the final drive had carries of 8, 15, 5, 16, 0 and 1 yard as the Gamecocks drove 54 yards on 10 plays to set up Parker White’s field goal.

Transfer of the Year

Jason Brown had plenty of people asking by the end of the season, why was this guy the third-string QB coming out of fall camp? How else could you explain why a quarterback from an FCS school in Pennsylvania, St. Francis, helped South Carolina beat Florida and Auburn down the stretch with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Shane Beamer credited Brown getting in better shape to move in the pocket and avoid trouble, particularly against Florida when he made plays Beamer said he couldn’t in August.

Most improved

Brad Johnson is a redshirt senior and lone returning permanent team captain from 2020 who has battled injuries for much of his career. But this season, he has lived up to the potential he had as the No. 3 player in the state coming out of high school from Pendleton, S.C. Johnson was 2nd on the team with 70 tackles, nearly double his career total entering the season (38).

Johnson has improved in part because of a position switch. Johnson played defensive end/outside linebacker to start his career, and now lines up as a weakside linebacker. He’s even considering returning to South Carolina for another season in 2022.

Biggest surprise

Zeb Noland was the silver screen story of the year as the former graduate assistant put off his coaching career to step in for the injured Luke Doty at quarterback and ultimately rescued the Gamecocks late against Vanderbilt. Noland delivered a solid 6 touchdowns and just one interception production ratio. His leadership and knowledge of the playbook was only short-circuited by his lack of mobility, an issue that was exposed at Texas A&M.

Play of the Year

Big man touchdowns are always popular, but when defensive tackle Jabari Ellis had an 18-yard fumble recovery touchdown to put South Carolina up 30-10 at halftime against Florida, it turned Williams-Brice Stadium upside down.

“The fair just left town and I still feel like I’m on a roller coaster,” Ellis said of following the Texas A&M loss with the biggest win of the season.

Win of the Year

Easily the Florida game. When Shane Beamer accepted the South Carolina job last December, he recalled his days as Steve Spurrier’s assistant and the big wins and raucous atmosphere when the Gamecocks were rolling. In a sort of blueprint for future years, the Gamecocks got 2 touchdowns from Brown and more than 100 yards each from Kevin Harris and ZaQuandre White, while the defense bottled up Florida for just 82 yards rushing.

The win will likely pay dividends for years to come in recruiting, and made fans recall wins like this more often during the Spurrier glory days.

“We’re not there yet,” Beamer said. “We’re still a work in progress, but we took a big step.”