Is It SEC Title or Bust for South Carolina Gamecocks?
Offense
On the surface it may seem like Connor Shaw’s departure at quarterback is not much of a loss with senior Dylan Thompson stepping in. After all, Thompson has been filling in for Shaw while he was injured the past three years, and he did orchestrate the victory over UCF last year. But trust me, Shaw will be missed. The guy incredibly threw 24 touchdowns to only 1 interception last year. That’s amazing, and if anybody questions how valuable he was, plug in the tape to the Tennessee loss. True, that was Shaw’s worst game of the year, but the offense was rendered useless when he came out. Thompson will be good at the position, having proven himself pretty well over the past two years, but there will be a drop-off at the position, although minor.
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At running back, the team is loaded with junior Mike Davis, who had 1,183 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. He’ll have to shoulder a bigger load this year with Shaw gone from the rushing attack, but Thompson should be fine in that system, and juniors Shon Carson and Brandon Wilds will have larger roles after combining for 477 yards and 4 touchdowns last year. Redshirt freshman David Williams is in the lineup this year as well, and there’s a very good chance he could work his way up to the No. 2 back based on raw talent. Expect the running game to build on what it was last year and be even deadlier this year.
The ball was spread around last year at receiver, to the point that losing leading wide receiver Bruce Ellington and his 775 yards and 8 touchdowns shouldn’t be a big deal. Senior Damiere Byrd and junior Shaq Roland should have no problem filling the void after combining for 1,030 yards and 9 touchdowns. Expect them to put up bigger numbers this year, and senior Nick Jones will have a solid role in the offense as well. At tight end, senior Rory Anderson and junior Jerrell Adams are back, which is nice, but neither had a major role last year. Anderson only had 235 yards and no touchdowns while Adams only had 187 yards, but he did manage 2 touchdowns. Perhaps one of them could have a larger role this year, though. 4-star freshman tight end Kevin Crosby could also step into the position. Juniors Shamier Jeffery, Kane Whitehurst and K.J. Brent and sophomores Pharoh Cooper and Kwinton Smith could also provide depth, and Spurrier has brought in three highly recruited freshmen in 6’4″ Terry Googer, Tyshun Samuel, and Shaq Davidson. Expect the unit as a whole, like the running game, to be better than last year, even with Ellington gone. There is too much talent, depth, great recruiting, and experience here.
Nov 23, 2013; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Dylan Thompson (17) celebrates his touchdown with offensive tackle Mason Zandi (74) and wide receiver Kwinton Smith (82) against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY
The strength of this offense could very well be the line this year, which returns everybody except for guard Ronald Patrick. Senior guard A.J. Cann and junior guard Mike Matulis will fill his departure just fine. Cann is the most experienced player on the line with 38 starts, Matulis has 10 starts in his career, and both players provide a nice height to go with their plus-300 pound frames. If you like size there, you’ll love it on the outside. Junior tackle Brandon Shell and senior tackle Corey Robinson could be superstars this year standing at 6’6″ 333 pounds and 6’8″ 344 pounds respectively, and both are two-year starters. Having those two guys should make Thompson feel comfortable in the pocket and hopefully make him improve upon his performance two years ago stepping in for Shaw. The final piece of the line rest with sophomore centers Clayton Stadnik and Cody Waldrop, weighing 273 pounds and 309 pounds respectively. Last year, they split the reps as freshmen, and both were productive so it will be exciting to see how much better they can be this year with more experience. Sophomores Mason Zandi and Brock Stadnik, junior Will Sport, and senior Cody Gibson will all be in the rotation as well to make for a very deep line that should be much more talented and more experienced than last year. Spurrier also has five highly recruited freshmen, so there won’t be a drop-off on this line anytime in the future.
The offense may take a hit with Shaw’s departure, but there’s so much returning talent and good recruiting everywhere else that it won’t matter. Thompson is good enough to run the offense as long as he can get into a rhythm, and it should be even better this year than it was last year. With Spurrier at the helm, averaging more than 35 points a game is likely a given, but don’t be surprised if it averages more than 40 on the season either. Continue to Next Slide for Defense