AD Top 15........ #12

#12 THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS


WHO THEY ARE


COACHED BY STEVE SPURRIER OVERALL RECORD (186-73-2)
SOUTH CAROLINA UNDER SPURRIER (44-33)
AT HOME UNDER SPURRIER (29-13)
AWAY UNDER SPURRIER  (14-15)
VS TOP 10 UNDER SPURRIER (3-10)
VS SEC UNDER SPURRIER (23-26)
PREVIOUS RECORD (9-5) BOWL LOSS TO FLORIDA ST (CHICK-FIL-A)
RETURNING STARTERS 13 SEVEN ON OFFENSE AND SIX ON DEFENSE
QB IS A ? WILL SAY CONNOR SHAW FOR NOW COULD BE STEPHEN GARCIA
GARCIA SUSPENSION QUESTION MARKS
RB SO MARCUS LATTIMORE 1230 YARDS AND 17 TD ALSO 412 REC AND 2 TD
WR JR ALSHON JEFFERY 1517 YARDS AND 9 TD ALL AMERICAN CANIDATE




WHO THEY PLAY


SEP.3  EAST CAROLINA (CHARLOTTE)
SEP.10  @ GEORGIA
SEP.17 (H) NAVY
SEP.24 (H) VANDERBILT
OCT.1  (H) AUBURN
OCT.8  (H) KENTUCKY
OCT.15  @  MISSISSIPPI STATE
OCT.22 BYE
OCT.29  @  TENNESSEE
NOV.5   @  ARKANSAS
NOV.12 (H) FLORIDA
NOV.19 (H) THE CITADEL
NOV.26 (H) CLEMSON
DEC.3  SEC CHAMPIONSHIP (ATLANTA) IF QUALIFIES




WHY #12


The old ball coach has done a good job. This is not the talent rich area that Steve once coached in at Florida. It is South Carolina a team with no tradition of being even competitive in the SEC for years and years. Slowly but surely Steve has brought in talented pieces to Columbia and the gamecocks have now started to turn the corner. 2010 was the best year in the history of the program while being a member of the SEC earning a trip to Atlanta to represent the East in the championship game. Building upon that success from last year the gamecocks want to return to the SEC championship game and win so that they can enjoy a trip to one of the BCS Bowl games. To do so I believe Three Factors become key. First and foremost as listed above in who they are..who in the world is going to be the QB and will that person either Garcia or Shaw be just good enough to not turn the ball over in bad locations. If they can get reasonable production from one of those two then the rest on offense should be easy. An All SEC and All American Candidate at running back and wide receiver in Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery both with explosive play potential on every play. Second can the Defense remain solid. Defense under Spurrier has been pretty good the entire stint he has been the coach. They have always gotten enough stops in the past but the offense just couldn't score. If the Defense still bends but doesn't break then they should be fine. Last the Powder puff soft Schedule for the Gamecocks looks deceiving it does have some problems. I have said before I hate back to back road games and the Gamecocks have a tough set with at Tennessee and At Arkansas back to back. Plus they also play At Georgia in week 2 and that game could very well determine the entire season. If the cocks get past UGA in the 2nd week then they will have a chance to be 7-0 before they play the back to back road games. starting off 7-0 would almost assure them of a 10 win season and a trip to at least a January bowl game.