2015 Season Preview: South Carolina

Season Preview: South Carolina 

South Carolina Gamecocks

Head Coach: Steve Spurrier
Record: 84-45 (10 Seasons)
Last Year's Record: (7-6, 3-5), defeated Miami in Duck Commander Bowl, 24-21



Review of 2014 Season- 
You can expect there to be some drop-off when you lose a guy like Conner Shaw on offense and Jadeveon Clowney on defense along with each supporting cast. But I don't think Gamecocks fans were ready for the sorry excuse for a defense that took the field for much of the season last year. After three double-digit season win totals, South Carolina flirted with a losing season last year. All of the sudden, the Gamecocks looked more like the team we are all more accustomed to in 2014. I don't know, but maybe it was a bad omen to raise a over-sized banner of Steve Spurrier on the outside of the stadium before he has even brought the program its first SEC title. Just maybe. Other places hang banners for Championships. In Columbia, apparently a Capital One Bowl win and beating your rival five times in a row is just as worthy of a feat. To each his own.


Key Losses-QB Dylan Thompson, RB Mike Davis, WR Damiere Byrd, DL J.T. Surratt

Key Returners- RB Brandon Wilds, WR Pharoh Cooper, WR Shaq Roland, DT Gerald Dixon, Jr., LB Skai Moore

Returning Starters: Offense-7; Defense-8

2015 Schedule-

September 3rd        North Carolina (Bank of America Stadium-Charlotte, NC)
September 12th      Kentucky
September 19th      Georgia*
September 26th      UCF
October 3rd            Missouri
October 10th          LSU*
October 17th          Vanderbilt
October 31st           Texas A&M
November 7th        Tennessee*
November 14th      Florida*
November 21st      The Citadel
November 28th      Clemson*

#- Home games in BOLD
*-denotes key game


Schedule Analysis- 
Just like the Bulldogs, South Carolina's season will be made or broken by the month of October and the first week of November. They will be tested in the road trips to Missouri, Texas A&M and Tennessee. The East division of course continues to be inferior to the West....but that means it's up for grabs. The Gamecocks have to go back to Athens this year and bringing an inexperienced QB between the hedges with limited proven playmakers early in the season is a tall, tall task. Just ask Clemson about it last year. Not to mention UGA's defense which should be stout. Spurrier's group will have a three game home stand to close the season ending with a battle with their friends, eh...I mean "enemies" from the upstate. They'll be looking for revenge from last year's 35-17 loss to a one-legged Deshaun Watson and his supporting cast of Wayne Gallman and Artavis Scott and the nations best defense.

My Thoughts-

As expected, last season was somewhat of a rebuilding season with the departure of the best QB in school history, Conner Shaw. Thompson held his own as the Gamecock's new starter but a lack of reliable and proven help sometimes made things difficult. Tied with a just a flat out horrible defense and a handful of fourth quarter meltdowns and blowing leads against Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, things got flat out ugly at times. But with Spurrier on the sidelines you can never really count out his team. Speaking of which will this be his last year? Or maybe he has another 10 years in the tank? Who knows. The HBC himself can't seem to make up his mind. His current contract runs through 2018, though for what its worth. Things should be better this fall but they have to find a new quarterback again. It looks like that will be Conner Mitch. Mitch threw a whopping 6 passes last season. I think I threw more than that in the parking lot of the fairgrounds last year before the game against UT.  He will likely beat out junior walk-on Perry Orth and freshmen Michael Scarnecchia for the starting role.


Bottom Line- 

The good news is that South Carolina's defense literally can't be much worse than it was last year and should be greatly improved this fall. The addition of Co-Defensive Coordinator Jon Hoke to assist Lorenzo Ward along with a handful of new defensive linemen in their most recent recruiting class should help. Of course, they will lack experience but definitely should be pointed in the right direction after finishing the 2014 season ranked 92th in total defense. It also has been reported that the Gamecocks will change to a 4-3 base system instead of the previous 3-4 and 4-2-5. My biggest question outside of the QB situation is who will step up and be that #2 and #3 guy on offense behind Cooper. Sure you can run wildcat and even some read-option with #11 to get him involved in various ways, but he can't do it all alone. Someone else will have to emerge as a reliable option. Cooper flew under the radar last year but opposing defenses will key in on him this year and in theory, things should be a little more difficult for him this time around. Regardless, he'll continue to make big plays but just how many? And will it be enough? Expect some more growing pains in the midlands this year.

Regular season Prediction: 7-5

2015 Season Preview: Georgia

Season Preview: Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs

Head Coach: Mark Richt
Record: 136-48 (14 Seasons)
Last Year's Record: (10-3, 6-2), defeated Louisville in Belk Bowl, 37-14


Review of 2014 Season- 

Last year was a season of highs and lows for the Bulldogs. They started off the year with an impressive win over Clemson at home before coming up short in their next outing against conference foe South Carolina. From there, they rattled off five straight wins behind a very powerful rushing attack of Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb along with a host of other quality backs further down the roster. Huston Mason proved to me a dependable game-manager, doing what he needed to get the ball in the hands of his big playmakers...although that usually just meant handing the ball off and getting out of the way. An absolutely head scratching loss to the Florida Gators down in Jacksonville along with a regular season finale lost to rival Georgia Tech kept the Dawgs from being a legitimate contender for a playoff spot.

Key Losses-QB Huston Mason, RB Todd Gurley, WR Michael Bennett, CB Damian Swann

Key Returners- RB Nick Chubb, WR Malcom Mitchell, PK Marshall Morgan, LB Leonard Floyd

Returning Starters: Offense-6; Defense-7

2015 Schedule-

September 5th        Louisiana-Monroe
September 12th      Vanderbilt
September 19th      South Carolina*
September 26th      Southern
October 3rd            Alabama*
October 10th          Tennessee*
October 17th          Missouri
October 31st           Florida* (Jacksonville, FL)
November 7th        Kentucky
November 14th      Auburn*
November 21st      Georgia Southern
November 28th      Georgia Tech*

#- Home games in BOLD
*-denotes key game


Schedule Analysis- 
I think if you are a UGA fan, you have to like how the schedule is set up. As always you have the early season showdown with the Gamecocks but you get them at home along with Alabama who is believed to be in for a down year. In addition, Missouri and Kentucky will travel between the hedges this year. Although one might suggest that Missouri's early SEC luck has to eventually run cold. We shall see. Outside of their date with South Carolina in week 3, October will be the tell-tale of the season. If they can go at at least 3-1 in that stretch....watch out for the Dawgs. The Florida game will, as always be one to circle on your calendar, especially after last year's result. Can the Gators do it against UGA two years in a row?

My Thoughts-

While they return arguably the best running back in the nation in Nick Chubb this fall, their offense will have a different look this fall with a new offensive coordinator running the show as Mike Bobo is now the head coach at Colorado State. Brian Schottenheimer, the former St. Louis Rams Offensive Coordinator, will look to keep the Bulldogs rushing attack strong while they adjust to having a new guy under center for the second straight season. They should be solid up front which obviously is the key to their rushing attack and the success of Chubb. Several have said will prove to even better than his predecessor, Todd Gurley. I expect the defense to continue making strides under 2nd year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.

Bottom Line- 

It seems almost every year we as ourselves the same question....is this the year? Can Georgia finally go from good to great? They came close last season. With what is expected to be a solid defense (that returns seven starters), they should be competitive in each of their games this fall. It helps that the East continues to be weaker than it normally is and significantly weaker than the West. If Georgia is able to get settled on a new, young QB early, this could very well be another 10 win season and beyond in Athens. Especially if they find a way to get it done either on the road against either Auburn or Tennessee. They are picked to win the East division but came up with a third place overall finish in the conference during SEC Media Days earlier last week. Auburn was picked to win it all. Things might not be too flashy on offense early on but I think the Dawgs get off to a favorable start to begin the 2015 season.

Regular season Prediction: 10-2 

Countdown To Kickoff

By: Christopher Hall

Christopherhallsc.2010@gmail.com

With the NBA finals and Draft, College World Series and Women’s World Cup all in the rearview mirror, we have approached what I always refer to as the “dead period” of the sports year.

Sure there is still plenty of Major League Baseball to partake in this time of year, but for me it is just like the NBA. With the long schedule and there being so many games it is hard to get excited about a Wednesday night game where there isn’t all that much on the line.

The NBA is really starting to grow on me and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the playoffs this season. However, I’ll have to admit that during the season I probably watch no more than five games from start to finish and that includes the big games on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So in short, until the playoffs are on the horizon and begin, I’m still moderately interested at best when it comes to both Basketball and Baseball. Outside of a watching a guy fight his way to a no-hitter or someone sending a walk-off grand slam to the parking lot in the bottom of the ninth inning, baseball just doesn’t have enough going on during the summer to keep me interested.

Some may call it un-American and despite playing the sport myself in my younger years in recreation league, baseball overall just doesn’t do too much for me. So each year around this time I’m forced to read up on everything I can to get my football fix. 

From conference Media Days, the way-too-early rankings, predictions and watch list to the guys making headlines for finding their way into trouble during the summer and put their future playing careers.

I’m a big football guy and when fall comes around I can easily sit on the couch every night from Thursday-Monday watching, in my opinion, the best sport in the world. So you can absolutely bet I’m counting down the days and hours until football returns.

The 2015 season should be another one for the record books with the 2^nd year of the College Football Playoff system after a well-overdue replacement to the commonly flawed BCS system.

This is the time of year where I look around and file through all the storylines that I think might be worth following throughout the season. Most of which come at the collegiate level where I pay the most attention.

There are plenty of interesting storylines this off-season that will surely develop into some interesting games this year. I guess it is only fair I mention the Champions first.

Who would have thought that the same team that lost its starting quarterback for the season due to injury not once but twice, along with falling to an inferior Virginia Tech at home in week two would end up running the table and winning the first ever college football playoff.

I guess it helps when you have one of the best coaches in the game and a future Hall of Famer in Urban Meyer as your head coach. 

The question this year, though is who gets the starting role for 2015? Sure, Braxton Miller never “lost” his job but you can’t downplay how effective J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones who lead the Buckeyes to their first title since 2002, were in his absence. I can’t wait to see how the competition plays out heading to Fall Camp in Columbus. 

Speaking of the Buckeyes, how about their big rivals over in Michigan? There’s a new sheriff in town that goes by the name of Jim Harbaugh.  He is sure to shake things up for a program that hasn’t been itself for several years now. I still think about the 2007 upset loss at home to Appalachian State anytime I hear about the Wolverines.

Between Harbaugh and Meyer, you can bet that one of the greatest rivalries will return to what it should be in the years to come with these two guys running the show. Florida State prepares for life after Jameis Winston and now looks to Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson to lead the Seminoles this year. It should make for another interesting race in the ACC-Atlantic division as the sophomore sensation Deshaun Watson of Clemson looks to bring the hardware back to Tigertown after recovering from an ACL injury at the latter half of last season.

Over in the SEC, my new home team of Tennessee looks to climb its way back into the elite of the conference in Head Coach Butch Jones third year at Knoxville. With Joshua Dobbs leading the way, this could be the year the Vols make a run for at least an SEC-East title.

I’ve already begun penciling in my schedule for the fall which will hopefully include several road trips and knocking a few venues off my bucket list. 

In addition to heading back to Clemson a time or two to see my Tigers play, I hope to travel up to Louisville for a early season Thursday night showdown with the Cards. I’ll also be making the ride up to Neyland Stadium for the first time. A good college friend of mine is now in Law School at UGA so naturally I’ll be taking the opportunity to see a game in Athens for the first time as well. Finally, the Carolina Panthers visit the Titans in Nashville this year. I’ll cap things off with a return trip to Columbia to hopefully experience my first win in Williams Brice Stadium after an unfavorable 0-4 personal record. Can you tell that I’m ready for football yet?