Countdown to Kickoff Day 22: #29 South Carolina Gamecocks

I would love a word with the lunatic that did the scheduling for South Carolina. Three home games in the first two months and their last four games are at Williams-Brice Stadium. If you are a South Carolina fan, how are you supposed to feel about this?

I learned about their scheduling situation this morning and my mind has been in a pretzel ever since. On one hand, you play the last month and potentially the most important part of your season at home, but on the other hand, every great season gets off to a great start so if the Gamecocks were to stumble out of the gates the home stand that is to come doesn’t pull as much weight.

Either way, Shane Beamer is going to have this team ready to prove the pre-season polls wrong for the third straight season. In the last two years, Beamer has led USC (yes, USC) to two straight bowls, one bowl win, and most importantly a win over in-state rival Clemson. That win, as it does not come often, will buy him at least five years as the leader in Columbia.

South Carolina is in a tremendous spot for the future with Coach Beamer as the head coach, but this season is a total toss up in my opinion, and the beautiful thing is that the success of this season will COMPLETELY rely on Spencer Rattler.

I have never seen a fanbase do a total flip in terms of how they feel about a player like i saw the Gamecock faithful do with Rattler last year. He had a very mediocre regular season until the last two games. Before the last two games he threw for 10 touchdowns and 10 picks, had a QBR of 43.62, and averaged around 200 yards per game. Those numbers should not be on the field with an SEC offense. The final two games against Tennessee and Clemson, I am convinced somebody else was in his body. Maybe it was the ghost of Connor Shaw? I am not totally sure but the sample size of him being hot garbage is bigger.

Defensively, USC will have to improve their run defense. If they don't do that, teams will not pass against them and just run it down their throat and still score 40 points a game. The secondary is solid, as it has been the past few years, but opponents have been able to score points on them still because they aren’t good against the run.

Obviously a team is more than just their QB. Rattler is different though, he has the potential to be great and the potential to be atrocious every single week. I think we will see both sides of him this year. The good news for him is that Antwane Wells Jr. also decided to return. Those two need to show out week in and week out for USC to be competitive in the SEC.

We will see some incredible games from the Gamecocks this year, but I also think we will see some ugly ones. 7-5