‘I’m coming into my own:’ Is Nyck Harbor transitioning from promising to productive?

Quarterbacks, South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains acknowledged, are judgmental. They scout effort, keep tabs on who stays after practice, who consistently runs clean routes, who shows hands of glue.

Those are the guys they throw the ball to.

Loggains kept reminding Gamecocks wide receiver Nyck Harbor of that. Harbor is the former five-star recruit who qualified for the Olympic Trails and gained a cult following because he was a video-game cheat code.

Yet, through five games, he had caught just seven passes for 51 yards.

“You keep working hard. That ball will find you,” Loggains told him. “This game honors effort and toughness.”

Which takes us to the biggest play of South Carolina’s 27-25 loss to Alabama on Saturday. It was fourth-and-9. Desperation mode. Loggains just drew up a play. It wasn’t on his call sheet and the Gamecocks hadn’t practiced it.

Mazeo Bennett, running from the slot, came wide open in the end zone. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers hit him for the score. South Carolina had life.

And it was all set up by Harbor, who looked like he was on the track, running a blazing post route that ate up an Alabama safety and linebacker, leaving no one to account for Bennett.

“Harbor was running so fast there on that post route,” Loggains said.

“I’m putting in that effort to make sure my teammates see it and everyone sees it on the practice field,” Harbor said. “It’s starting to show up in games.”

Certainly Sellers went back to the sideline, a tablet in his face and watched the play over and watched Harbor’s speed. Perhaps, it accounted for some extra trust.

Two quarters later, with less than a minute left in the game and the Gamecocks trailing by eight, Sellers lofted a deep pass to Harbor for a 31-yard touchdown.

It was just the second touchdown of Harbor’s career. And his first came 13 months ago against Furman.

The grab was not just important — it was spectacular. With his 235-pound frame, he boxed out Alabama DB Domani Jackson, snagged the ball while Jackson tried to shove him out of bounds and, most impressive, somehow got a toe in bounds.

“That’s the moment you dream of. Go and make a play for your team,” Harbor said. “Big game, Alabama, trying to get the upset. I’m just like, ‘Throw it up to (No.) 8. Good things happen.’ ”

Harbor finished the game with two catches for 40 yards, pushing him up to nine grabs and 91 yards on the season.

Those numbers don’t pop, not to the level many had envisioned when Harbor became one of the highest-rated recruits to commit to South Carolina. But it is progress — enough that Harbor, who missed all of spring ball while running track, finally feels like he’s caught up to everyone else.

Harbor is still just 19, still learning how to play wide receiver. While it’s easy to wish his game was already as developed as his body and speed, he’s still growing as a football player.

But maybe Saturday was the game he needed to elevate from promising to productive.

“Now I feel like I’m coming into my own,” Harbor said. “They’re giving me the keys. I just have to go take them.”