South Carolina football is trying to reascend to their glory days under Steve Spurrier. Here are the names on each side that will try to make it happen.
As old South Carolina coach, Spurrier, would say talking season is over and it’s time to get to work. Current coach Will Muschamp has said his piece at SEC Media Days and now it’s time to walk the walk and get ready for the 2017 schedule.
The start of the college season is under 50 days away. The players, coaches and fans in Columbia, SC are ready for a turnaround season. The Gamecocks have the talent to make a run to win the SEC East and go to Atlanta.
Atlanta, the home of the SEC Championship, is the goal for every team in this conference. And for the first time in a while the depth in Carolina is good enough to make back to the championship game. Coach Muschamp has worked his southern charm on the recruits for a year and still has some of the talent left over from the Spurrier era.
Now its time to see how the depth chart will shake out this year.
Offensive Line
Starting Tackles: Malik Young (LT), Zack Bailey (RT)
Backups: Sadarius Hutcherson, Blake Camper
Young and Bailey should definitely be more improved than last year. Both have been in the program long enough and need to anchor down the edge for their young quarterback. Bailey and Young both have a quality amounts of starts. Young came into the 2016 season as a backup but ended the year with nine starts. While Bailey, spent the whole 2016 campaign as a starter and held down the right tackle position.
If any of these starters go down, junior Blake Camper will more than likely be the next guy up. Camper has six starts under his belt and could step in immediately to fill any holes in the tackle position. Sadarius Hutcherson is young lineman who has shown promise on the scout team, but Carolina fans would rather see him as a backup for now.
Starting Guards: D.J. Park (LG), Cory Helms (RG)
Backups: Donell Stanley, Christian Pellage
D.J. Park and Donell Stanley have been battling for the starting position for over year. Last year, Stanley had the job won until injuries lost the job to Park. So, really Muschamp has a tenuous situation at the left guard position. While at the right guard position, it is a wrap. Cory Helms is starting right guard, unless he goes down with an injury. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon started 11 of 12 games as a freshman and earned All-Freshman honors. After a year of sitting, he came back harder than ever starting all 13 games for the Gamecocks last year.
Christian Pellage is a very talented sophomore and could see some playing time on special teams but would be downgrade from Park, Stanley or Helms.
Starting Center: Alan Knott
Backup: Chandler Farrell
Alan Knott is very talented but has face many injuries in his career as a Gamecock. Even with his injuries his 29 starts leads this group of hogs. If Knott can have his first and only healthy season, he could end up being an All-SEC player and drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft.
His backup Chandler Farrell is a former walk-on and has served as the backup to Knott for the last year. In 2018, Farrell is definitely going to be on track to be the starting center.