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Why to Like the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2017

I will admit that I might have snorted loudly when it was announced that the South Carolina Gamecocks had hired Will Muschamp. After all, he did fail at Florida and was fired. He took the Defensive Coordinator job at Auburn and they had problems. There were a lot of negative things following Will Muschamp around.

However, there is still the chance that I could have been wrong. One thing in Muschamp’s advantage is superb ability to recruit. Even though he was fired at Florida, he recruited lights out. Other than at Quarterback, Muschamp left new Florida coach Jim McElwain some talent to work with.

Quarterback Brandon McIlwain was the top recruit in Muschamp’s first recruiting class. But, Bryan Edwards, Chavis Dawkins, Rico Dowdle and Dennis Wonnun were all members of the same class

and they all started as true freshmen.

A later member of his first recruiting class was Quarterback Jake Bentley.

Bentley played last season as a true freshman and he should have been a senior in high school. The Gamecocks were 2-4 before Bentley even saw any action and then he led them to 3 straight wins before losing to ranked Florida and later getting crushed by Clemson. But, South Carolina would not have beaten Clemson last season with Tom Brady playing Quarterback for them.

Bentley is special. Bentley

Bentley is so good that top recruit Brandon McIlwain who was once considered to be the future at South Carolina, decided to transfer elsewhere.

But, Bentley is not all of the recruiting success had by South Carolina last year.

Rico Dowdle did not even play in the first 4 games, but he hit the century mark against Tennessee and Missouri and he ran for 226 yards against Western Carolina. For his true freshman season, Dowdle ran for 764 yards and averaged nearly 6 yards per carry.

Redshirt freshman A.J. Turner also ran for 497 yards. But, North Carolina transfer Ty’son Williams stole the show at the South Carolina Spring Game. He was very explosive. 
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Wide Receiver Bryan Edwards was also a true freshman last season and he came down with 44 receptions for 590 yards and 4 Touchdowns. The 6-3, 210 Edwards was a standout in the recent Gamecock Spring Game and it appears that he has a connection with Quarterback Bentley.

Leading receiver Deebo Samuel is back for his junior season after hauling in 59 catches a year ago. Chavis Dawkins, Randrecous Davis, Javon Charleston and Korey Banks are all sophomores with game breaking potential.

Tight End Hayden Hurst is another great weapon for Bentley. Hurst

Hurst is older and mature and one of the better Tight Ends in the nation. Last season, Hurst caught 48 passes which trailed only Deebo Samuel as the team leader.

K.C. Crosby is another Tight End and he contributed 23 receptions.

Up front, Left Guard Zach Bailey is one of the best Offensive Linemen in the nation and in the Spring Game, he was lined up at Right Tackle. He has the athleticism to play Tackle at this level, but I’m not sure if the move is permanent. Lots of coach love to plug in Offensive Linemen at other positions up front to see how it works. With Bailey, any move should work, he is a beast at 6-6, 315 with excellent feet.

Will Muschamp was a top Defensive Coordinator at LSU, Auburn and Texas before joining the head coaching ranks. He’s always going to have a good defense.

But, last season, the Gamecocks fell a little short defensively finishing 66th nationally in total defense. That’s not Will Muschamp good, or most any Defensive Coordinator worth his salt.

The good news defensively is that Linebacker Skai Moore is back after missing last season.

Early enrollee Jaylin Dickerson was not highly recruited, but supposedly he has been outstanding in practice.

The defense may not live up to fan’s or Muschamp’s expectations, but the offense led by Jake Bentley should be fun to watch.