South Carolina Football: Jake Bentley can take the Gamecocks far in 2018

Building toward 2018

An Outback Bowl win over Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines gives South Carolina a considerable amount of confidence and momentum entering 2018. Bentley returns for his junior season, looking to carry the Gamecocks to the SEC Championship Game in his third year as the starting quarterback.

The return of Samuel for his senior season is also a huge bit of news for South Carolina. Samuel is one of the best weapons in the SEC, and he’ll be force in the upcoming season. The loss of star tight end Hayden Hurst will hurt the offense, but there’s still a ton of talent coming back.

Bentley has three rushers returning for their junior seasons that will all help out in the backfield. Starting running back Rico Dowdle is joined by Ty’Son Williams and A.J. Turner for what promises to be quite the three-headed monster for the Gamecocks ground game.

In total, South Carolina is looking at least six returning starters on the offensive side of the ball. That’s significant due to the bleak outlook for most offenses in the SEC East in 2018. Georgia, South Carolina, and the Missouri Tigers are really the only three teams in the SEC East with few offensive question marks for the upcoming campaign.