South Carolina is on the cusp of acheiving upper-level medicority on a consistant basis, which for a program with its history, might as well be back to back national championships. The USC Chickens have historically been fierce competitors with Vanderbilt at the dead bottom of the SEC. Lou Holtz peaked here with a 2 win season. Steve Spurrier has done the unthinkable..... again. Spurrier was the last coach to take Duke to a bowl back in 1992, and until he took over the reigns in Florida the year after that, the Gators had never won an SEC championship that hadn't been taken away later. If anyone could make this program worthwhile, it was Spurrier.
The SEC East has no clear "best" team this season. Of course everyone will bet on Florida, but the Gators will be doing a lot of rebuilding this year. Tebow is gone and so is just about every key player on the defense. Georgia is lower than it has been in a very long time as is Tennessee, and Kentucky and Vandrbilt look to still just be Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks are not the best team in this division, the Gators are, but the margin has never been closer and if the Hens ever want a title this is the year.
South Carolina returns one of the country's most irksome QB's in Stephen Garcia, who has been brilliant at times, but has a nack for making really, really, stupid, untimely mistakes. The recieving corp is being touted by many as one of the nations best, but the offense has a big problem on the line. The line is as unexperienced as any in the conference and with a quarterback who is frustratingly inconsistent that could be a huge problem. The defense is where the teams strength lays, and while there are some questions in the secondary, this team looks to be a beast against the run. Florida and Arkansas may be the only throw-first offenses in the SEC this year, aside from Vandy, who usually opts to fumble first.
The schedule is an SEC schedule, so somewhat nightmarish. After an easy opener against Southern Miss, it starts right in against SEC opponents hosting Georgia. This game will let us know right where the Gamcocks really are in the pecking order, if they win, a division title is a legitimate possibility. Lose and it will be another year in the middle of the pack. After another cakewalk against Furman, they will play Auburn and Alabama in back to back weeks. They will face the lighter part of their SEC schedule over the next three week against Kentucky, Vandy, and Tenn. The season ends with Arkansas, Florida, and Clemson. If the cocks can make through the first five games with only one loss, it will be a good season in South Carolina.
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