South Carolina (6-7 SU/6-7 ATS in 2016)
May 1 Power Rating: 76.22 (#44)
Returning Starters: 16 (10 offense, 6 defense)
Key Losses: DL Darius English, LB T. J Holloman, LB Jonathan Walton
2017 Recruiting Class Rank: #22
2016 Season Recap: The Will Muschamp hire a year ago was not celebrated by many Gamecock faithful. He did inherit a tough situation as the Gamecocks returned only 9 starters from a 3-9 team. The season did get off a to a solid 2-1 start with close wins over Vanderbilt and East Carolina. The Gamecocks would lose their next three games but were competitive in all three. After the bye they decided to make a switch at QB and went with true freshman Jake Bentley. The early returns were successful as the Gamecocks won three straight including an outright upset over Tennessee as 2-TD underdogs. After a loss to Florida, they got to bowl eligibility by beating FCS Western Carolina. However, they were crushed in the season finale vs their rival Clemson. South Carolina was a big underdog to South Florida in the bowl game and would end up losing a heart-breaker in OT. Overall, it was a successful first season for Muschamp and Co as the Gamecocks did exceed their season win total of 5 (South Point).
Offense Per Game Rank
Scoring 20.8 116
Rushing 134.4 108
Passing 213.2 83
Total 347.5 115
Defense Per Game Rank
Scoring 26.5 51
Rushing 203.2 90
Passing 208.7 39
Total 411.9 66
South Carolina (SU: 6-7, ATS: 6-7, O/U: 5-8)
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
W/L
|
Line
|
Score
|
Total
|
9/1
|
at Vanderbilt
|
W
|
+5
|
13-10
|
u41.5
|
9/10
|
at Miss St
|
L
|
+7.5
|
14-27
|
u48
|
9/17
|
E Carolina
|
W
|
-3
|
20-15
|
u51
|
9/24
|
at Kentucky
|
L
|
+2.5
|
10-17
|
u59
|
10/1
|
Texas A&M
|
W
|
+19
|
13-24
|
u48.5
|
10/9
|
Georgia
|
L
|
+7.5
|
14-28
|
o41
|
10/22
|
Massachusetts
|
L
|
-20.5
|
34-28
|
o46.5
|
10/29
|
Tennessee
|
W
|
+14.5
|
24-21
|
u51
|
11/5
|
Missouri
|
W
|
-6.5
|
31-21
|
u56
|
11/12
|
at Florida
|
L
|
+11.5
|
7-20
|
u37.5
|
11/19
|
W Carolina
|
L
|
-30.5
|
44-31
|
o41.5
|
11/26
|
at Clemson
|
L
|
+26
|
7-56
|
o49.5
|
12/29
|
† USF OT
|
W
|
+10.5
|
39-46
|
o61.5
|
2017 Outlook: The Gamecocks are in much better shape in year two under Muschamp as they return 16 starters including 10 on offense. They are led by QB Jake Bentley who started 7 games and threw for 1,420 yards (66%, 9-4 ratio). The Gamecocks were the only team in the country to have freshman lead them in rushing and passing as RB Rico Dowdle had 764 yards (5.7 ypc, 6 TD’s). Also keep an eye on RB Ty’Son Williams, a transfer from North Carolina that had an impressive spring. The receiving unit is led by Deebo Samuel (783 yards, 13.3 ypc) and TE Hayden Hurst who had 48 receptions a year ago (most in program history by a TE). Bryan Edwards was also impressive in spring. Four starters are back on the OL.
On defense, the Gamecocks return six starters plus welcome back LB Skai Moore who was their leading tackler in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Moore missed all of last season with an injury. Their top two tacklers, D.J. Smith (80 tackles) and Bryson Allen-Williams (75 tacklers, 8.5 tfl) also return. They do lose their #3 and #4 tacklers but keep an eye on true freshman Jaylin Dickerson. Head coach Muschamp called Dickerson the most talented safety prospect he’s been around and that’s saying something considering the talent Muschamp has coached the last 15 years.
The special teams unit does have some huge holes to fill as they lost their kicker, punter and long snapper. The losses include the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina history in kicker Elliott Fry. Alexander Woznick did show a big leg in the spring game.
Projected Starting Line-up
Offense:
QB #19 Jake Bentley 6-4 223 So
RB #23 Rico Dowdle 6-0 216 So
WR #1 Deebo Samuel 6-0 208 RS Jr
WR #89 Bryan Edwards 6-3 209 So
WR #83 Chavis Dawkins 6-2 209 So
TE #81 Hayden Hurst 6-5 253 Jr
C #70 Alan Knott 6-4 274 RS Sr
RG #51 Cory Helms 6-5 308 RS Sr
LG #78 Zach Bailey 6-6 311 Jr
RT #77 Malik Young 6-4 294 RS Jr
LT #69 DJ Park 6-5 332 RS Sr
Defense:
DE #95 Dante Sawyer 6-3 265 Sr
DT #90 Taylor Stallworth 6-3 308 Sr
DT #93 Ulric Jones 6-6 309 RS Sr
BUCK #92 DJ Wonnum 6-4 248 So
WLB #4 Bryson Allen-Williams 6-2 229 Sr
MLB #10 Skai Moore 6-2 221 RS Sr
SLB #6 TJ Brunson 6-1 228 So
CB #3 Chris Lammons 5-9 188 Sr
SS #24 DJ Smith 5-11 194 Sr
FS #26 Jaylin Dickerson 6-1 180 Fr
CB #7 Jamarcus King 6-1 186 Sr
Top 5 Incoming Recruits:
CB Jamyest Williams 5-9 174
WR OrTre Smith 6-4 229
ATH Shi Smith 5-10 181
DE MJ Webb 6-3 285
DT Javon Kinlaw 6-6 340
2017 Schedule With Early Projected Lines
Date
|
Opponent
|
Line
|
9/2
|
† NC State
|
+4
|
9/9
|
at Missouri
|
+2
|
9/16
|
Kentucky
|
-4
|
9/23
|
Louisiana Tech
|
-15
|
9/30
|
at Texas A&M
|
+9
|
10/7
|
Arkansas
|
-3
|
10/14
|
at Tennessee
|
+11
|
10/21
|
Bye
|
|
10/28
|
Vanderbilt
|
-7
|
11/4
|
at Georgia
|
+15
|
11/11
|
Florida
|
+5
|
11/18
|
Wofford
|
-21
|
11/25
|
Clemson
|
+11
|
Schedule Analysis: Quite simply, the Gamecocks play one of the tougher schedules in the country this year. Their first seven games of the season feature 5 SEC foes, a sneaky good NC State team in Week 1 and the always dangerous Skip Holtz and his Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. They get a bye before a key home game vs Vanderbilt, but even their FCS foe Wofford was a playoff team a year ago. They wrap up the season with their in-state rival the defending National Champion Clemson Tigers. Currently, I have the Gamecocks only favored in 5 games and I’d set their season win total at only 5.5. With so much experience back on offense, I may look to bet OVERS in South Carolina games this year. After the UNDER started 8-2, the Gamecocks started to move in this direction at the end of last season with the OVER cashing in each of their last three games. We’ll continue to catch value because their games only averaged 47.3 ppg a year ago.