Steve Spurrier enters his 6th season at South Carolina and continues aiming for more than 7 win seasons. Last year’s team went 7-6 ending with a disppointing and dismal showing in the Papa John’s Bowl. Ellis Johnson’s defense again appears to be very solid and returns 8 starters. The offense and special team return teams need major improvement for SC to move to the next level.
Offense
Quarterback
Stephen Garcia returns as the starting QB. In 2009, his first full season starting as a sophomore, he threw for 2,852 yards and had a respectable 17/10 touchdown to interception ratio. He needs to improve upon his completion percentage, which was only a mediocre 55.3. A Spurrier quarterback should have a 65% completion rate or higher. Also, another complaint is that Garcia took nearly 40 sacks last year. A porous offensive line was a major contribution to this, however there were many cases where Garcia could have safely thrown the ball away, but instead tried to scramble behind the line of scrimmage and lost yardage. Garcia does have running ability and gained 186 yards; that was mostly gained on zone-read options and QB draws. Spurrier has been talking up true freshman Connor Shaw and says he will play this year. Shaw is more of a running QB than Garcia and it would be a good idea to use him as a change of pace on maybe one series a game. However, if Spurrier starts platooning quarterbacks again than this is very bad news, especially in his South Carolina tenure, as the offense has played even worse when switching QBs in and out. The third string QB is Andrew Clifford, and it would be surprising if he played this year in any more than a mop-up role (and even then).
Runningback
The running game has suffered during Spurrier’s tenure for two primary reasons: 1) Frequent quarterback sacks put the offense in long yardage situations, hurting rushing averages and forcing the offense to throw to make up the lost yardage; and 2) Spurrier has a tendency to abandon the running game, even in close games. A prime example is the Arkansas game last year, when a 10-10 halftime tie became an easy win for the Razorbacks after SC suddenly went into throw-throw-throw mode with predictable results.
The coaches are trying to put in more zone-read option plays out of the spread to help the running game. They have said this in the past, also, but mostly went back to the old throwing too often crap. It remains to be seen if they actually stick to running the ball as much as throwing.
Kenny Miles opens the season as the starting tailback. He was the team’s leading rusher last year, with 626 yards in 117 attempts. Ideally, he should be the main option in between the 20s. Brian Maddox, a senior, is a short yardage back as he ran for 6 touchdowns last year but only had a 3.0 YPC average. The coaches like Maddox because of his ability to block and catch out of the backfield. Highly-touted recruit Marcus Lattimore figures to get carries as well and could push Miles and Maddox if he lives up to the hype. Jarvis Giles is a scatback type who played a lot early last year but Miles passed him on the depth chart in the 3rd game. Coaches want him to put on more muscle and work on his receiving abilities out of the backfield.
Offensive Line
This group has been weak for years. All too often, there have been false starts, holding penalties, and missed assignments leading to sacks. There is a new offensive line coach this year as Sean Elliott was brought in from Appalachian State. This year’s starting offensive line does include 4 seniors so maybe experience will help improve. However, the depth chart is thin and several of the backups are true freshmen, so SC cannot afford any more injuries to this group after several players already got hurt in fall practice.
Wide Receiver
Unlike the offensive line, Spurrier has never had any trouble with wide receivers at SC. Freshman sensation Alshon Jeffery really only played the 2nd half of last year and still caught a team-leading 46 passes for 763 yards. Jeffery, like most of the SC receivers, is a tall target who can go up and get a jump ball. Others who fit this profile are Tori Gurley (a 6’5 tall target, 31 receptions for 440 yards) and Jason Barnes (a 6’4 tall receiver who caught 26 balls for 280 yards). If Weslye Saunders is eligible for his senior season, he adds another big target as the tight end. Two true freshmen, Ace Sanders and Nick Jones, were brought in to try adding a speed element.
Defense
Defensive Line
Defensive end Cliff Matthews returns as the anchor to the South Carolina defense. He was picked for several preseason honors, and tied with the now-departed Eric Norwood for the team lead in sacks last year with 7. The other starting defensive end is Devin Taylor and the backup is Chaz Sutton, and these players will be asked to make up for much of the production lost from Norwood’s graduation. The starting defensive tackles are Ladi Ajiboye and Travian Robertson, two experienced and dependable starters. The primary backup tackle is Melvin Ingram, who was solid last year as a role player.
Linebacker
Shaq Wilson, the team leader in tackles in 2009, returns to lead the Gamecocks as an outside linebacker. Returning from an ACL surgery is Rodney Paulk at middle linebacker, a solid run-stopper when healthy. Paulk was given an extra year of eligibility in addition to 2010 by the NCAA due to missing most of the last two years with injuries. The spur linebacker, who is responsible for both pass coverages and run stopping depending on the offensive alignment, is Antonio Allen. Each of the starters are experienced and proven. The backups are seniors Josh Dickerson and Tony Straughter.
Cornerback
Stephon Gilmore was a freshman phenom last year and earned many accolades, and returns in 2010. Moving from safety to corner to help reduce shoulder injury problems is Chris Culliver, who led the team last year in passes broken up and deflected. The nickelback is C.C. Whitlock who played very well last year in limited action. The Gamecocks have perhaps one of the best CB units in the nation.
Safety
The player who Culliver switched positions with was Akeem Auguste, who was good at CB, but the coaches think that his physicality would be more suitable as a safety. Devonte Holloman will be a first year starter as the other corner, but played very well as a backup during his true freshman campaign including a big interception against Clemson. The primary backup is D.J. Swearinger.
Special Teams
Returning as both the punter and placekicker is senior Spencer Lanning. Lanning was a very accurate 17 for 20 on field goals last year and also had a good net punting average. Walk-on Joey Scribner-Howard will take over kickoffs, which were a sore spot for SC last year in both coverage and kicking distance (probably costing the team a win at Georgia).
Former track member Bryce Sherman is the primary kickoff return man. Sherman was pedestrian last year averaging about 23 yards a return. Culliver, who is the school’s all-time leading in career return yardage, could also return kicks but the coaches are wary of his shoulder problems. Culliver’s return average was similar to Sherman’s.
Gilmore is the punt returner, and averaged about 10 yards a return after taking over midseason — a very solid PR average.
Schedule
As usual, South Carolina has one of the toughest schedules in the country. SEC opponents Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas rotate to being home games this year. The other 4 are road games. The rivalry game is at Clemson.
Home:
Southern Miss, Georgia, Furman, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Troy
Road:
Auburn, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Clemson
Most forecasters have moved the Gamecocks up to 3rd ahead of Tennessee in the preseason predictions instead of the usual 4th. The probable range of wins for SC this year could be anywhere from 6-10, with 6 being a huge disappointment and 10 being a pleasant surprise.
-braves14
