Skinny - Steve Spurrier enters his fifth season with the Gamecocks and there's no more room for excuses. The team is now full of players Spurrier recruited, so he can't blame anything on past coaches. Stephen Garcia will be the undisputed leader of the offense and he won't have to split time this season at the quarterback position, which I think hurt the team last season as neither Garcia nor Smelley was able to get into a rhythm. Smelley transferred and quit football and a lot of the offense graduated, so its rebuilding time for the Gamecocks. The running back situation has been a mess of recently with the exception of Cory Boyd. Spurrier brought in a highly regarded running back in Jarvis Giles this spring and he should have a very good chance of seizing the job as Eric Baker and Brian Maddox fight for playing time. Maddox battled an injury last season and should be the opening day starter. The defense loses two good ones in Emanuel Cook and Jasper Brinkley, but should be able to regroup behind senior backer Eric Norwood.
Strength - Linebacker
Eric Norwood is the clear best player on the team after recording 49 solo tackles (75 total) and 9 sacks last season. Norwood should end his career near the top of the school's all time sack list. Rodney Paulk returns this season after medically redshirting last season with a knee injury. Paulk was a two year starter before the injury and should fill in well for the loss of Jasper Brinkley. Darian Stewart would complete a solid linebacking corps, but Spurrier moved him back to his 2007 position at safety in the spring after one of the nation's top pass defense lost 3 starters and a vast amount of depth. Alonzo Winfield figures to take over his linebacker spot. Winfield is noted for his speed and should help the Gamecocks in third down situations. A couple of junior college transfers will provide depth for the starters (Tony Straughter and Josh Dickerson).
Weakness - Cornerback
Ultimately I think the cornerback situation will be fine, and the offensive line or running back unit will be the team's biggest weakness but the team may struggle in the early season versus the pass. True freshman Stephon Gilmore is highly regarded and will be called upon to start immediately with only a spring and summer of practice to prepare with. Sophomores Akeem Auguste and CC Whitlock should be the favorites to win the other job with competition coming from redshirt freshman Jay Spearman. The pass defense was second in the country in yards per game last season and the safeties should be all right. Chris Culliver returns at safety and Darian Stewart returns to the other saftey spot from linebacker as Emanuel Cook moves on to the next level. True freshmen DeVonte Holloman and DaMario Jeffery should push for playing team as highly regarded talents. The corners may struggle at first going up against Russell Wilson in week one and than having to defend AJ Green in week 2, but I expect them to be fine in time.
Key Game - 9/12/09 @Georgia
The team will have 9 days to analyze their performance against NC State and prepare for Georgia after the opener. South Carolina always manages to play a close game with the Bulldogs and this year shouldn't be much different as both team have to recover from important personnel losses in the early part of the season. Being in Athens won't make the game easier, but the Gamecocks did win last time the game was there in 2007. Although AJ Green will provide problems for the young Gamecock corners, Georgia will be playing with a new QB and one that won't be quite as good as last year's, Matt Stafford, well at least not immediately. This game will set the tone for the rest of the season in a very difficult schedule.
Key Player - Jarvis Giles
Giles should be given every opportunity to seize the starting job in the first few weeks of the season. Maddox and Baker aren't exactly game breakers and Giles has been in the system for a few months now, getting a pivotal head start in the spring. Giles has the speed dimension needed in the SEC that Maddox and Baker don't have. The running game has been terrible recently for the Gamecocks and for Carolina to improve on a miserable amount of interceptions from a year ago, the running game must help take the pressure off the need to pass. Kenny McKinley isn't there anymore, so it is even more important this year that the running game takes off.
Impact Freshman - Jarvis Giles/Stephon Gilmore
Predicted SEC finish - 4th (East)
Top 5 Players
1. LB Eric Norwood
2. S Darian Stewart
3. S Chris Culliver
4. TE Weslye Saunders
5. DE Cliff Matthews
Views
No comments:
Post a Comment