In Will Muschamp’s second year with South Carolina football, he has the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done since 2010.
In 2010, the Gamecocks made their first appearance in the SEC Championship game. The game did not go as planned but this is the biggest team accomplishment the Gamecocks have had in the SEC. Since, that date they have not made it back to the championship game. The Gamecock fans sniffed the success in 2010 and they to sniff it again.
In 2017, they have a very good chance to do that.
The 2016 season was full ups and downs. They went through three starting quarterbacks and had a losing record. But if Gamecock fans can look at the glass half full they will not hang their heads low coming into 2017. After starting 1-4 in SEC play last season, they went 2-1 in their next three SEC games. But more importantly, they found their starting quarterback.
Enter the Jake Bentley era in Columbia, SC.
Many fans and analysts think that Jake Bentley has the tools to become one of the greatest Gamecock quarterbacks. This year he and the Gamecocks can take a big step forward if they win the SEC East.
Here are five reasons why South Carolina can be a dark horse in the SEC East.
5. The wide open SEC East
The SEC East is one of the weakest Power Five divisions in the nation. If you use the S&P+ ranking system, it will tell you the SEC East is, in fact, the worst Power Five division in the country. Since the turn of the century, East teams have only won the SEC five times. In the last eight years, the West is 8-0.
Just to drive it home one more time, the Alabama Crimson Tide have won five SEC Championship since 2000. That is the same amount as the whole SEC East combined in the same time span. Even though Georgia, Missouri and Florida have made repeat appearances since 2011, the East is still wide open.
So why not South Carolina?
It would be just like the SEC East to have a team go from fifth in the division to first in the division in one year.
4. Scheduling
Every year, each East team has to play two West teams. Carolina will play Texas A&M and Arkansas.
The Gamecocks will play the Texas A&M Aggies on Sept. 30 after their game against Louisiana Tech on the Sept. 23. This year, the Aggies aren’t as good as years past. Kevin Sumlin will have to find the replacement for Trevor Knight.
It will either be freshman Kellen Mond or senior Jake Hubenak. Both quarterbacks will be relatively new to starting a college football game. Mond is a true freshman with no college experience and Hubenak has only started three games. It will be a hard-fought game, but the Gamecocks are very capable of pulling out the win.
The other non-divisional game for South Carolina is the following week against the Arkansas Razorbacks at home. Bret Bielema is good coach, but I think he has run his course in Arkansas and this might be the game that puts the nail in the coffin. If he doesn’t win this game against the Gamecocks, I don’t see a game he can win until Nov. 4 game against FBS newcomer Coastal Carolina.
Muschamp has the better talent and he will pick up the win.
3. Depth at skill positions
South Carolina has one of the best tandems in the backfield in sophomores Jake Bentley and Rico Dowdle. In seven starts, Bentley put up 1,420 yards, nine touchdowns and only four interceptions.
Bentley’s premiere back, Dowdle, had quite an impressive freshman season as well. He had 5.7 yards per carry on 133 carries and six rushing touchdowns. Dowdle will lead a stable of backs that include former Wisconsin Badger Caleb Kinlaw, former North Carolina Tar Heel Ty’Son Williams, and returning Gamecock A.J. Turner.
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But it does not stop here.
South Carolina also returns Hayden Hurst, one of Bentley’s favorite targets. The other “tight end” is K.C. Crosby, who is basically the Jimmy Graham mold of the position. He does more of his damage flexed out wide, while Hurst is the more traditional tight end.
At the wide receiver position, they have one of the best athletes in the conference in Deebo Samuel. Last year, Samuel had 783 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns.
The only question is if sophomore receiver Bryan Edwards play to his full potential. If he and Samuel can produce, the Gamecocks can have one of the better offenses in the East.
2. Experienced offensive line
A team can have talented skilled players, but if you also have a good experienced offensive line, it’s even better. And that’s exactly what the Gamecocks have in Columbia.
The Gamecocks only lose one lineman from 2016. They return four out of five linemen for the 2017 season, which is tied for the most in the SEC East. The most important of these linemen is Summerville, S.C., native Zack Bailey.
South Carolina needs to find a new left guard, but junior Donnell Stanley could definitely be that replacement. And if it’s not Stanley, it’ll be senior D.J. Park who could fill the spot as well. Either way, Jake Bentley should have a lot of time to pick apart defenses and Rico Dowdle should have many holes to choose from this season.
The offensive line has been a key point of emphasis the last two years for the Gamecocks and they finally are reaping the benefits of that hard work.
1. The return of Skai Moore
To say that the South Carolina defense missed Skai Moore would be an understatement. If Moore wouldn’t have gotten injured before the 2016 season, he would be in the NFL right now.
In 2015, he was top five in the SEC total tackles, solo tackles, forced fumbles and interceptions. He also became the first Gamecock since 2006 to record 100-plus tackles in a season.
The 111 tackles he recorded are second-most in over 25 years at South Carolina.
If he can come back and play at his 2015 level, he will be a linebacker taken in first two rounds of the draft. Hopefully he and fellow linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams can turn the Gamecock defense into the feared unit it used to be.
Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: Way-too-early edition
Moore and his Gamecocks’ first test of the 2017 season will Sept. 2 against the N.C. State Wolfpack in Charlotte, N.C.