Tired of talking about Will Muschamp and Hugh Freeze yet? Or the lastest players to opt out?

Let’s focus instead on the Gamecocks’ brightest spot of 2020.

Kevin Harris is one of the more soft-spoken South Carolina football players, and when he’s asked questions by the media, he shares typically short answers.

But on Saturday night after a career and school-record game against Ole Miss, Harris was asked if any plays in particular stood out to him as his favorite, or others that were particularly effective.

That’s when he let out a wide grin.

“You know me, I like getting the ball, so I like all the plays,” he said with a smile that held for several seconds.

Even though he had a game most running backs dream of, Harris didn’t let on if he felt good early in the game, or if he knew at any point that it was going to be a big night.

“I feel like I know what I can do in the game,” Harris said. “Just go out there and execute.”

Harris set a school record with 5 touchdowns in a game after he broke the previous record of 3 set by many Gamecocks, including Harris himself against Charleston Southern in 2019. Harris’ touchdowns were from 46, 1, 1, 44 and 12 yards.

Harris’ 243 yards were 5th-most all-time in a game in South Carolina history and the most since Marcus Lattimore ran for 246 yards against Navy in 2011. Speaking of Lattimore, the former Gamecock great kept tabs on the game — and Harris.

In terms of smiles, star WR Shi Smith let out a grin when a reporter asked a question about Harris’ production.

“It definitely didn’t surprise me,” Smith said as the only other dependable offensive weapon besides Harris for the Gamecocks. “I tell him every time we go out, every time he scores, ‘You’re the best back in this league.’ I feel like he bought in when I told him that. I feel like he knows that.”

QB Collin Hill said getting Harris heavily involved in the offense was the game plan, and everybody knew it. The idea was to limit the Ole Miss offense’s snaps.

“The dude’s a stud, the offensive line did a great job,” Hill said. “Adam (Prentice) did a good job at fullback, receivers blocked really, really well, tight ends were blocked well, we were executing well as an offense. … There were some plays when we created one-on-ones for Kevin and he took advantage of them. That’s the kind of player he is, he had an unbelievable performance, and he played his tail off.”

Harris’ performance against Ole Miss vaulted him into the rushing lead in the SEC with 817 yards on the season on 131 carries, which also leads the league. For context, Harris is 1 of just 3 running backs in the top 10 who has played 7 games. He is still second in the league at 116 yards per game, behind Alabama’s Najee Harris.

Like Smith, Harris has been one of the few bright spots in a forgettable season that led to Muschamp’s firing. Harris has produced 4 100-yard rushing games, and he’s scored a touchdown in every game except against Texas A&M, and in 4 games, he’s scored at least 2 TDs.

That historic night for Harris put him in a class by himself among recent Gamecock running backs.

Now that offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is running the show on an interim basis, we should expect more of the same, too.

With 3 games remaining against Missouri, Georgia and Kentucky, Harris has already eclipsed the rushing total for the Gamecocks’ leading rusher each of the last 5 seasons. He is 183 rushing yards from 1,000 for the season. South Carolina hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Mike Davis in 2013.

What’s more, his 13 touchdowns are the most for a Gamecock back since Lattimore had 17 in 2020.