COLUMBIA — Spencer Rattler was practically perfect in South Carolina football's 47-21 win over Furman on Saturday.

The Gamecocks quarterback, who had a 66.2% completion percentage in 2022, went 25-of-27 passing for 345 yards and three touchdowns, and also had a rushing TD against the Paladins (1-1). Rattler had zero turnovers for the second week in a row for South Carolina (1-1), a far cry from the player who logged more interceptions than touchdowns through much of last season.

Rattler's performance also spanned less than three quarters. He was replaced by backup Luke Doty with more than 7½ minutes left in the third quarter, and freshman third-string QB LaNorris Sellers took the majority of the second-half snaps. He was 4-for-4 passing for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Gamecocks wide receivers have big night

Despite losing senior starter Ahmarean Brown to a lower-body injury in the first half, South Carolina's wide receivers dominated Furman's interception-prone secondary. Xavier Legette had another career performance, logging 118 yards on six catches. In his fifth season with the Gamecocks, his only two 100-plus yard games have been in the past two weeks.

Rattler connected with nine receivers, headlined by a 53-yard pass to Legette and a 36-yard touchdown to Doty before Doty resumed his backup QB role. O'Mega Blake also scored the first touchdown of his career on a goal-line reception set up by Legette's deep ball.

Defense makes second-half turnaround

The Gamecocks let Furman get on the board with its opening drive, and the Paladins went ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter. However, South Carolina didn't allow them back into the red zone after that, forcing seven punts and holding them to just four successes on 11 third-down conversion attempts.

South Carolina's pass rush also improved from its struggles against North Carolina. The Gamecocks sacked Furman QB Tyler Huff three times and logged four tackles for loss after zero sacks and one TFL against the Tar Heels.

Freshman offensive linemen show promise

Tree Babalade and Trovon Baugh made their collegiate debuts against Furman after an abysmal offensive line performance by the team's veterans in the opener. South Carolina scored its lone rushing touchdown of the game with Babalade playing left tackle, and Baugh was a consistent part of the rotation at right guard.

Though Furman's defensive line was certainly less threatening that North Carolina's, the Gamecocks went from giving up nine sacks to the Tar Heels to zero against the Paladins. Rattler's ability to get deep passes off was also a testament to the line's improvement holding the pocket long enough for a dropback.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football routs Furman as QB Spencer Rattler dominates