The South Carolina Gamecocks Just Might Suck This Fall......
Don Juan Moore. Getty Images.Shane Beamer enters year 4 at South Carolina off his first losing season. Star QB Spencer Rattler is gone to the New Orleans Saints & the Gamecocks must rebuild behind athletic redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers. The Gamecocks also have a pretty brutal schedule and are facing an uphill battle.
Can Sellers lead them to a bounce back season & bowl game? Let's take a look at the key questions facing South Carolina.
1) Can the offense replace Spencer Rattler?
I have some doubts. Sellers might end up being good down the line but he is extremely young. The offensive line STUNK last fall allowing 41 sacks but they also did have a ton of injuries. The Gamecocks did make a nice move picking up Arkansas RB Rocket Sanders in the transfer portal at least. The hope is the offensive line can have more continuity and less injuries to stableize. There are plenty of options at WR but not much size. The question is can Sellers be a competent passer?
2) Can the defense show a pulse?
Last year was ROUGH. The defensive line could not stop the run and the secondary struggled. It is NEVER a good sign when a team switches their base alignment in November to a 3-3-5 from a 4-2-5.
It was hard to find many positives. One of them was LB Debo Williams is back after a big season and 5 star freshman Dylan Stewart does provide hope. There is some experience in the secondary too but are they any good? I am not very optimistic…..
3) Where will the 6 wins come from against this tough schedule?
One of them better be week 1 as the Cocks open up as a 21 point favorite over Old Dominion. South Carolina is notorious for playing down to the G5 and being a fiery underdog at home in the SEC. The Cocks survive Week 1 but no chance I lay 21 with a redshirt freshman making his 1st start.
SEC play opens in week 2 at Kentucky which does not look promising. South Carolina falls in Lexington then the LSU Tigers roll into Columbia. This is such a key game for the season as LSU's defense leaves them vulnerable on the road. However LSU's offense should score a ton against this defense and the Tigers escape with a W.
An easy win over Akron gets the Cocks back to .500 for the final time this season as South Carolina falls at home to Ole Miss then gets SMOKED at Alabama. And oh yeah they gotta go to Norman the following week to get smashed yet again by Oklahoma. That is a vicious 3 game stretch to put it mildly…..
Just when all hope is lost, the Gamecocks shock college football with a home upset of Texas A&M in early November. The Gameocks are usually good for 1-2 of those a year and the Aggies love to choke. Williams-Brice Stadium is also a dang good home field advantage in SEC games.
South Carolina pulls out an ugly win at Vandy the following week to get to 4-5 and regain hope of going bowling. Mizzou comes to Columbia the following week in the game that will decide the Cocks post season fate. Mizzou squeaks it out in a wild one.
The Gameocks hammer Wofford in a scrimmage before falling at Clemson in their rivalry game by 2-3 TDs to finish 5-7 and out of a bowl. Shane Beamer keeps his job but will enter 2025 on the hot seat.
This season is going to suck for the Gamecocks. Sometimes the jokes they write themselves…..
