South Carolina looks vary good on offense. I know Spurrier says he’ll use both Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson at quarterback, but in my opinion, Thompson should be the starter. Shaw does give them the running option, but they’ve got two or three good running backs. They have good receivers with Bruce Ellington, the all-world athlete/wide receiver, leading the way. Damiere Byrd and Shaq Roland look like excellent options on the perimeter as well. Shamier Jeffery (6’1″, 204), Alshon’s little brother, looks like he could be an impact wide out. So they need to mix the run and the pass, and Thompson looks like a much better passer to me than Shaw. Mike Davis (5’9″,215) looks like he is more than capable of filling Marcus Lattimore’s big shoes. Lattimore, who Spurrier called the reason for South Carolina’s major success the last couple of years (two, 11 win seasons in a row, never happened at SC), is now with the San Francisco 49ers. Brandon Wilds (6’2″, 218) is also a good option at running back as well. Kendric Salley, 5’9″, 215, is another nice option at rb.
The offensive line, at least the starting five, looked excellent. They were opening wide holes for the running backs and giving the quarterbacks good time to throw. Cody Waldrop is the leader at center (6’2″, 312). Back to the running backs, SC also has four-star David Whilliams coming in. Williams is 6’1″, 192 and runs a 4.4. He will add some speed to the backfield and the chance to go the distance when gets his hands on the ball. Another impressive guy to me was Brendan Nosovitch, the redshirt freshman quarterback. He can really throw the ball well. Liked him a lot. Shaw was out this spring recovering from a foot injury and will be ready in June.
A real position of strength is tight end. Jerrell Adams (6’6″, 224), and Rory Anderson (6’5″, 218) are playmakers. Adams caught a couple of TDs in the spring game and Anderson made some nice grabs as well.
The Gamecocks look pretty loaded on offense.
On defense, they lost some talent, but there are some young, athletic players taking the place of guys like lbs Devonte Holloman, Shaq Wilson, cornerback D.J. Swearinger. and defensive end Devin Taylor; all NFL players. Chaz Elder, a redshirt freshman free safety, is a playmaker. There are some other good athletes in the secondary.
But the defense all centers around the awesome Jadeveon Clowney. The 6’6″, 272 pound defensive end has a chance at winning the Heisman Trophy. It’s hard on defense. The only defensive player to ever win it was Charles Woodson at Michigan in 1997. But Woodson also returned punts. But if any player can win it on defense, it’s Clowney. A.J. McCarron, T.J. Yeldon and Todd Gurley will be major players in the Heisman conversation this year , but I’d give Clowney a shot. He can make this SC defense special with his dominance. Clowney had 13 sacks last year and 23 tackles for loss. That’s astounding. Chaz Sutton will be another defensive end who can be a real player for the Gamecocks. They’ll need some young guys to step up on defense, and if they do, SC could find themselves in the SEC championship game in December.
Schedule looks more manageable than it has the last couple of years. SC opens with North Carolina in Columbia. Don’t know a lot about UNC, but will find out more after watching their spring game. That looks like a W. Then the Gamecocks go to Athens on Sept. 7 for one of the biggest games of the season, not only in the conference, but also nationally. If SC can get by Georgia, things will get really interesting in Columbia. They have Vandy at home the next week, then they’re at Central Florida, who is no slouch any more, then home against Kentucky, and a tough stretch– but doable barring any major injuries– @Arkansas, @ UT and @ Mizzou. The last four are at home against Ms.State, Florida, which could be huge with conference and national implications on the line, vs. Coastal Carolina and home against Clemson.
Ball Coach and his teams have beaten Clemson four years in a row, UT three years in a row and Georgia three years in a row. He doesn’t keep that to himself either. Ball Coach will let them know about it. He sticks himself out on a limb, but a lot of the time he backs it up.
I see this team, barring injuries to key players (Clowney, ect…), being in the SEC championship game if they can get by Georgia and Florida. Think they have a pretty good shot against Florida at home, but Georgia will be a toss up. Haven’t decided who will win the East yet, but like it between SC and Georgia. Head to head, injuries, and suspensions in Georgia;’s case, will decide who will prevail. Florida will be a factor. I picked SC and Bama in the SEC championship game three weeks ago and I’ll stick with that. Wow, what a season coming up with huge games early on.
The Memorial Tournamnet
My contenders for the Memorial Tournament this week are: Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler. I believe a name guy will emerge in this classic tourney at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, Jack Nickaus’s course. Tiger Woods looks like such a sure thing in this competition and I have to go with him, but golf is unpredictable. It happens in horse racing all the time; a sure thing doesn’t win many times. Look at Orb two weeks ago at the Preakness. The horse was the overwhelming odds-on favorite to win and it finished fourth. It can happen in golf, too, though I’ll go with Woods. He’s won here five times there, and he’s good on the courses he owns, like this one, He won it last year and has already won four times this year at Torrey, Bay Hill (Arnie’s) and the Players. Torrey Pines and Bay Hill he owns. Same with Murifield Village. I’ll go with Tiger Woods, but I’m not going to guarantee it. There are no guarantees in sports.
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