Noticed some pretty nice things on offense for the Gamecocks. Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery didn’t get a lot of action. We know what they can do. Lattimore rushed for almost 1,200 yards last year as a freshman, ran for 17 touchdowns and caught two more. Jeffery caught 88 passes for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns. Both are All-Americans.
But a guy who could be another impact player at receiver for SC is DeAngelo Smith. The sophomore caught three touchdown passes in the Spring game and looked very good. Made a couple of really fine catches for scores. He looks like a player. Ace Sanders is a speedster who can make some big plays at receiver.

SC looks pretty good at running back behind Lattimore. Kenny Miles looks like a more than capable backup as he ran for 43 yards on Saturday with some nice power and quickness runs. He led the team in rushing in 2009 before Lattimore arrived. Also, Eric Baker looks like a capable backup as well.

The offensive line looked pretty dominating. They should be a good unit though they were mostly going against the second team defense. Still had a good showing.

The big question mark is at quarterback. Stephen Garcia got suspended from the team for the fifth time and was suspended from school. The infraction is not being disclosed. Will he get a sixth chance? That would be unusual for any college program, but who knows what the severity of this violation is. If he comes back, the offense could  be pretty explosive. Garcia threw for 3,059 yards last year and 20 tds, but also had 14 ints. He can be erratic, and a head case, so the Gamecocks may be better off without him. But we’ll see. If he doesn’t, sophomore Connor Shaw will take over. Shaw looks like he’s pretty mobile, but has a little difficulty throwing it downfield. Against Auburn last year, he showed some good things, but threw two critical interceptions. He has some work to do. Behind Shaw is Andrew Clifford and he looked decent. The third quarterback is Dylan Thompson. All three look like they have potential though not as good as Garcia. Quarterback could be a big question mark particularly throwing the ball downfield if Garcia doesn’t return to the team.

Defense played pretty basic and rested most of its starters. They made some nice plays with a couple of nice ints. Stephon Gilmore is returning at cornerback. He is a junior and had 79 tackles last year, six tackles for loss, three sacks and three interceptions. He’s a dominating, Charles Woodson-like player. Antonio Allen returns also at db. He had 70 tackles last year, 10.5 tackles for loss, two and a half sacks and an int. All three other dbs return as SC runs a nickel package on defense with five dbs. D.J. Swearinger and DeVonte Holloman are quality players in the secondary. It’s numbers on defense for the Gamecocks that is the issue. They still run into depth problems at times. Dline looks like they’ve got some athletes but may be a little thin. Linebacker looks pretty good led by Rodney Paulk and Shaq Wilson. Spurrier felt pretty good about his defense during the Spring game even though the starters didn’t play much Saturday. Ellis Johnson is an excellent defensive coordinator and should field a very competitive unit. They just need to stay healthy. With the addition of the number one player in the country, Jadeveon Clowney (6’6″, 247), they could get a good pass rush. Clowney is supposedly a beast and, according to his high coach, will make an immediate impact on the college level. He is the third number one player in a row in South Carolina to sign with the Gamecocks following Gilmore (2009) and Lattimore (2010).

The Stephen Garcia subject will be the hot topic until it is resolved. The Gamecocks could sure use him, though Shaw shows potential. Garcia may have run out of chances.

Schedule is challenging as always in this conference. One of the  games that stands out to me is the second game against Georgia. This could be a key game in deciding who wins the East though there will be a lot of football left after that. Should be a classic. At Athens. Home games against Navy, Vandy, Auburn (big game) and Kentucky in a row after that before going to State, UT and Arkansas. Florida comes to Columbia in what should be another huge game if Gamecocks can get through their road schedule and Citadel and Clemson at home finish it off. The Gamecocks open with East Carolina in Charlotte.

The Gamecocks look like a solid team. Could challenge for East though those three road games in a row in the middle of the season are tough. Nine wins would be very good. Eight or seven seem more likely. If Garcia comes back, nine could be possible. Will keep up with Garcia saga.

(Marcus Lattimore will be relied on heavily this year especially if Stephen Garcia doesn’t get back on the team.)