RB Giles: Forgotten freshman

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina's Big Three made a splash upon arrival in January.

Freshman running back Jarvis Giles, freshman cornerback Stephon Gilmore and freshman safety DeVonte Holloman were to be the cornerstones on which the Gamecocks' season -- and possibly Steve Spurrier's legacy here -- would be built.

You've probably already realized that one got left behind somewhere along the way.

Gilmore has started every game this season at corner. Spurrier said Wednesday that he would vote for Gilmore, who has 31 tackles (two sacks), an interception and fumble recovery, as the league's top freshman.

Holloman has improved enough at the boundary safety spot that he's forced the coaching staff to move

senior Darian Stewart to spur, where he played a year ago. Holloman got his first start this past weekend at Tennessee and he'll get his second this week at Arkansas.

And then there's Giles, who's almost been forgotten in the herd of freshmen that are playing right away for South Carolina (6-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference).

After a promising spring, it certainly hasn't been the dream season that he and fans had drawn up.

Giles has shown glimpses of his elusiveness and talent, but it hasn't been consistently on display in his first college season.

The high point was the Sept. 19 home opener against Florida Atlantic. Giles rushed 11 times for 113 yards and a score in the 38-16 victory.

And then?

"Everything dropped," Giles said Wednesday. "Everything was going downhill."

He did reappear for an 11-carry, 74-yard day against South Carolina State two weeks later, but he simply has not been a factor in SEC play.

Since getting 10 carries (for 23 yards) at Georgia on Sept. 12, Giles has received 11 carries for 41 yards in the team's five other conference games. That's an average of 2.2 carries and 8.2 yards per SEC game.

"Pretty much I hadn't been taking care of business, and they cut my reps a lot," Giles said.

Rock bottom came Oct. 17.

The team traveled to play then-No. 2 Alabama. Giles watched from home.

He had been suspended, and left at home by Spurrier, for missing too many classes.

South Carolina lost 20-6 to the Tide, but the Gamecocks were only down seven most of the fourth quarter. Maybe one Giles burst through the line could have changed the game? Maybe?

"I didn't like it at all," Giles said. "I knew I could've been a big factor on the field. It hurt me. It hurt the team."

As you'd hope with that kind of punishment for a first-year player, the light came on inside Giles. He knew he had to make some changes. He knew he had to learn how to grow up -- and fast.

Missing classes? Being late to meetings and team functions?

He didn't realize those things were, in a roundabout way, part of the game he loves.

"What you do off the field carries over to football," Giles said. "That's what I've learned. It's about being a man. In the real world, you can't do that."

Not making excuses for him, but time management is an issue for a lot of freshmen (and not just freshmen football players).

Some deal better with being on their own than others.

"No one's going to wake you up and tell you to go to class," Giles said. "No one's going to tell you do this, don't do that. That's a big part about being a freshman. I went through it. I'm not going to lie; I've had my little run-ins with that. But I'm going to do the right thing."

First-year running backs coach Jay Graham understands Giles' journey. He was in those same shoes at Tennessee a little more than a decade ago.

"It's hard, getting acclimated as a freshman," said Graham, the seventh-leading rusher in Tennessee history. "It's not like high school, when you practice for an hour and a half and you've got the rest of the day off. You've got to manage your own time, and it's all day."

Graham was quick to point out, too, that Giles hasn't habitually had issues with class attendance. He said he "had a bad week" that led to the suspension.

Graham has had his work cut out for him in his first year, trying to discern which of his five running backs to play and when to play them.

Redshirt freshman Kenny Miles has taken the lead, but there's still room for junior Brian Maddox -- and for Giles.

"He's starting to take it upon himself to do what he's been coached to do," Graham said. "He's been doing that the whole season. But now it's starting to all come together."

And there's still time. With Arkansas, Florida, Clemson and a bowl game, there's still time.

Giles might be closer to a big day than you think.

"From three weeks ago, I feel like I'm better," Giles said. "When my name gets called, I'm going to do what I can."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.