COLUMBIA — One person who knows what running back Rocket Sanders was like in 2022 better than anyone is Dowell Loggains.

Before he became the offensive coordinator for South Carolina football in December 2022, Loggains was at Arkansas as the Razorbacks' tight ends coach for two years. That included the 2022 season when Sanders had 1,426 rushing yards, 271 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns.

Sanders dealt with both knee and shoulder injuries during the 2023 season at Arkansas before he transferred to South Carolina.

Loggains said Wednesday he sees the old Sanders again.

"Unbelievable offseason for him," Loggains said. "If I hadn't had the year away from him, the two years we had at Arkansas it feels and looks like the same player that has juice, size ... when he comes in here and works every day, you just say 'that's how you're suppose to practice, prepare, work in the weight room' ... what a commitment he's made to this program to get himself back to the way he needs to be to play well."

Loggains said at Arkansas Sanders was asked to put on weight to be closer to 242 pounds, but since coming to South Carolina he is down around 225 pounds.

Loggains said Sanders is the first to arrive at practice, sometimes bear crawling across the field before others even warm up. At SEC Media Days, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said that Sanders has shaved almost 6% of his body fat since February.

Sanders missed the first preseason scrimmage on Aug. 10, but returned to practice the next day and hasn't sat out since, according to Beamer. He participated in the second scrimmage on Saturday, and Beamer said he has looked great in practice, in 7-on-7 drills and in the scrimmage.

"He's a pro, ran the ball hard, thought that he showed he was Rocket Sanders," Beamer said after the scrimmage.

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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football: Rocket Sanders has 2022 Arkansas look, OC says