Steve Spurrier got back to being himself last year after about four or five "quiet" years. He likes his team and thinks they can be special. They've got the players on defense and a pretty good playmaking offense to make a run to Atlanta and a major bowl game. Spurrier has good reasons to have that ol' swagger back.
Connor Shaw is back at quarterback and looked terrific in the spring game. He completed 123 passes on 188 attempts last year (65.4%), for 1,448 yards and 14 TDs against six ints. He played the first half of the spring game and was stellar. He was 5-for-7 for 128 yards and two tds including a seventy-yarder to Damiere Byrd on the opening drive of the game. Shaw looks pretty good to me, but at the same time, the secondary looked pretty shaky. Spurrier said they were holding out some defensive players, so that was most likely the issue. Nonetheless, Shaw was efficient and highly effective. He looks like he's primed for a breakout junior year.
Marcus Lattimore did not play as he's still not fully recovered from a torn ligament and cartilage damage in his left knee that he suffered against Ms. State in the middle of the season last year. He has rushed for 2,075 yards in his two year career on 412 carries (4.9 yds per carry) and 27 TDs. He can be outstanding, but sometimes he can be pretty quiet in games. He's shown flashes of brilliance, but sometimes it looks like he doesn't show up. Will his knee be fully healed by the Gamecocks opener vs. Vanderbilt on Aug. 30, a Thursday Night at 7 PM ET/6 CT on ESPN? That's a major question. The South Carolina brass is saying he'll be ready for fall camp. So I'm going with what they say. Can he be as effective as he has been most of the time in the opener versus the Commodores? Maybe. If he is back to full strength, the Gamecocks will be stellar in both the running and passing game. Kenny Miles is a fine backup at tailback and Brandon Wilds is a pretty good player, too. But Lattimore will be the key. He could very well be back. I just remember how good Kerry Goode was at Alabama his freshman year in 1984 in the Boston College game and how good he was going to be when he tore up his knee in that game and was never the same. Goode's knee was worse than Lattimore's, and with the training staff and rehabilitation capabilities teams have now, Lattimore could be 100 percent by August 30. Will keep an eye on that. That could be the key to SC's season.
Offensive line looks pretty solid with good size. Spurrier is high on left tackle Brandon Shell, a 6'6", 331 redshirt freshman. Shell blocked potential All-American Jadeveon Clowney in the spring game and did a pretty good job on him. Going against Clowney in practice has got to make Shell ready for the SEC. Wide receiver looks pretty solid with speedster Ace Sanders back along with playmakers DeAngelo Smith and Byrd. They lost first round draft pick Alshon Jeffery, but this should be a pretty good receiving corps by committee. May not have the dominant player like Jeffery, but should be pretty solid, with some speed.
The defense starts with their stellar defensive ends: Clowney (6'6", 256) and Devin Taylor (6'8", 267). Both are beasts and can dominate football games. Clowney registered eight sacks last year and Taylor recorded six. They both look ready to be superior players. Kelcy Quarles looks like a pretty solid defensive tackle. He's 6'4", 286. He's not huge, but pretty effective. Byron Jerideau (6'1", 316) is a pretty active dtackle for the Gamecocks as well. Should be a fine player for them. Pretty good defensive line for this team.
The linebackers are led by 6'2", 241 outside linebacker DeVonte Holloman. Fine player who recorded 51 tackles last year, four for loss. Should be even more active this year. Shaq Wilson is another stellar player. He's a 5'11", 224 pound senior and he'll be a leader. He had 52 tackles last year and five for loss with a sack. He should make even more plays this year.
The secondary lost some very good players in Antonio Allen and Stephon Gilmore from last year's team. Expect senior free safety D.J. Swearinger to lead the group. Swearinger registered 80 tackles last year and picked off three passes. He's a senior. Akeem Auguste is a senior (5'9", 188) and should be an excellent cornerback. Still looks like there are some question marks back there. The secondary was beaten deep in the spring game three or four times, so that could be an issue heading into the season.
Kicking game looks pretty solid. Landon Ard and Adam Yates both connected on their field goals. Ard booted a 51-yarder at the end of the game. Punter is Patrick Fish and he didn't have a lot of opportunities in the spring game, but he looks fine.
Schedule:
The Gamecocks open at Vanderbilt on August 30 on ESPN (7 PM ET/6 CT). That should be a war. Vanderbilt is hungry and ready to win. James Franklin has these guys believing they can win every Saturday (Thursday in this case), and they've got a pretty good football team. Two pretty solid defenses, but some explosive quarterbacks both passing and running with Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers also ready for a breakout season like Shaw. I'll have my prediction closer to game time on this one. Like the Gamecocks barely at this point. Should be a fun one.
Versus East Carolina and UAB at home are both W's. Versus Missouri at home will be challenging, but I like SC to win. At Kentucky should be a victory. Versus Georgia will be another war. It's at home, so I'll go with Gamecocks.
At LSU. Could be a victory, but I'm going with a loss here, though not ruling it out. Gotta see how the season progresses. I like LSU at this point. Like Spurrier over Miles if it comes down to coaching decisions. At Florida, win. Florida getting closer, not there yet though. Quarterback not solid enough. Tenn at home, win. Arkansas at home, win. Vs Wofford, win. At Clemson will be tough. Like SC to pull it out though.
Like the Gamecocks to go 11-2 with potential losses to LSU and Vandy, Georgia, Florida or Clemson. See them representing the East in the SEC Championship game. Good team that is well coached. New defensive coordinator in Lorenzo Ward. Watched an interview with Ward, who played for Alabama in the late '80's and was a very good player, and he sounded pretty solid. Last year's dc, Ellis Johnson, was excellent, and got the head job at Southern Miss. Ward has some big shoes to fill, so that'll be interesting to watch how his defense plays this year. But Spurrier's renewed "confidence" looks to be well-founded. He has a very good team.
Steve Spurrier (above) ready for big 2012.