When previewing SEC college football, Gridiron Heroics has you covered. What is the South Carolina Gamecocks 2022 Football Preview situation? We break it down: The good, the bad, the ugly, and back to the good.
Who are we kidding? Nobody who resides in the Southeast will contest that SEC football is the best in the country, and we feel pretty damned sure (sorry we cussed, Mom) that the rest of the country knows that the SEC is the best — whether or not they are willing to admit it or not. Today, we give you the South Carolina Gamecocks 2022 Football Preview.
We break down the 14 teams that make up the SEC. Check it out, team by team:
SEC CONF. PREVIEW: Overall SEC Conf. Preview
SEC EAST PREVIEWS: Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Mizzou | South Carolina | Tennessee | Vanderbilt
SEC WEST PREVIEWS: Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | LSU | Mississippi State | Ole Miss | Texas A&M
THE TEAM: South Carolina Gamecocks
THE MENTOR: Shane Beamer (2nd year, 7-6 record)
THE 2021 RECORD (SEC RECORD): 7-6 (3-5)
THE AFTERLIFE: Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Won defeating UNC)
THE FIVE STUDS (STATS): Josh Vann WR (679 yds receiving, 5 TDs);
THE GOOD: The good of all this is the fact that South Carolina did retain a good bit of their good veteran players, and they even added some good weapons on both sides of the ball. From the transfer portal which is where QB Spenser Rattler came from as well as his Tight End from Oklahoma Austin Stogner. Some other notable transfer-ins are Defensive Linemen Terrell Dawkins from NC State, Running Back Christian Beal-Smith from Wake Forest, Running Back Loveasa Carroll from Georgia, and Wide Receiver Antwane Wells from James Madison University. Beal-Smith was one of the more touted players from the portal who is expected to perform well alongside Juju McDowell and Marshawn Llyod.
THE BAD: The bad side of this is the fact of the weapons they lost to the NFL draft and those who transferred out to other schools and that is on top of the fact that their schedule is not any much easier than last year does put a wrinkle in Shane Beamer big second-year jump.
THE UGLY: The ugly is the normal ugly, they play in the SEC East and more importantly they play in the SEC with good teams like Alabama and Georgia so trying to get ahead in such a tough division of college football is rough so buckle in Gamecock fans.
BIGGEST NON-CONF GAME OF THE YEAR (AND WHY): Clemson Tigers. There is no bigger game in the year than fighting your instate rival even though they have not been on the winning side in a few years but anytime someone fights their rival it’s a huge deal.
BIGGEST CONF. GAME OF THE YEAR (AND WHY): Kentucky. Now everything in me wants to say Georgia because they have won the chip and can fight Alabama plus they defeated Georiga a while back so it is possible but the game against Kentucky is the real definer here. The SEC can be ranked by the top teams, the power teams, the up-and-comers, low-hanging fruit, and Vanderbilt. I joke but the ranks are real and Kentucky has breached the power team bracket and if South Carolina can beat them they too will be in the conversation of moving up to up and coming rather than low-hanging fruit.
DARKHORSE THREAT ON THE SKED (AND WHY): Missouri would be the one I would say because they have quietly done pretty well for themselves in situations so they could be the darkhorse team here.
THE HAPPY HISTORY NUGGET: Since 1892 (which is about 12 years after Fake USC or Southern California was made) the Gamecock’s football record by the school is 583-553-44 all-time but since the NCAA started to actually keep track in 1903 the record sits at 551-419-41. I personally like their record better because of the gap between W/L.
WHICH TEAMS WILL THEY BEAT?: They will beat Georgia State, Arkansas, Charlotte, SC State, Texas A&M, Missouri and Vanderbilt for 7 wins on the year
WHICH TEAMS WILL THEY LOSE TO?: They will lose to Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Clemson for five losses on the year
FINAL RECORD, POSTSEASON PREDICTION?: They will finish 7-5 and not make the CFB but will end up in a bowl game that they will probably win.
PRESEASON ALL-SEC PLAYERS:: South Carolina has no first-team All-SEC. DL Zacch Pickens and DB Cam Smith made Second-team All-SEC. WR Josh Vann and TE Jaheim Bell made third-team ALL-SEC.
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