Spring game information for Will Muschamp and his South Carolina football team as he looks to rebuild the Gamecocks after a miserable 2015 season.
It has been an inauspicious start to Will Muschamp’s South Carolina tenure. The former Florida head coach was hired in the offseason to replace Steve Spurrier who resigned midseason as the Gamecocks limped to a 3-9 finish but has seen two quarterbacks injured in the spring.
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The Gamecocks couldn’t even get to the spring game to see what the top two candidates for the starting quarterback job could do in Kurt Roper’s offense. First it was Lorenzo Nunez who injured his knee and was lost for the rest of spring practice. Then, it was Perry Orth, who started eight games last year, breaking his collarbone in a scrimmage last Saturday.
Those two combined to throw 15 of the 16 touchdowns thrown by South Carolina quarterbacks last year. Connor Mitch returns after playing in only two games last year before a hip injury ended his season, but it’s hard to feel very optimistic about the Gamecock offense with injuries already beginning to mount.
Combine that with the loss of the team’s best player, Pharoh Cooper and second-leading receiver, tight end Jerell Adams and Muschamp’s Florida offenses could look good by comparison to what South Carolina rolls out this year.
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South Carolina has to count on a big season from running back David Williams with Brandon Wilds gone, but he only had 299 yards and was kept out of the end zone last year on 86 carries.
Muschamp should be able to transform the Gamecock defense in time, but he inherits a unit that ranked last in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense in the SEC last year.
Plus, Auburn fans will warn you Muschamp isn’t a lock to fix anything after the Tigers had the No. 13 total defense and No. 11 scoring defense in the SEC last year. And that Auburn roster was far more talented than South Carolina’s.
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All in all, the spring could be the start of what is a very long year for South Carolina fans. I believe Muschamp can turn things around with his second coaching job, but it’s a two-year process before the Gamecocks are thinking bowl game.
The South Carolina spring game is scheduled for April 9.