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 South Carolina Gamecocks 2013 final ranking: 4 2014 preseason ranking: 9 Schedule and projected results Aug. 28 - Texas A&M W. I see it being a high-scoring affair, and we're certainly capable of losing given our typical performance in openers, but A&M's defense is just so atrocious. Sept. 6 - East Carolina W. gently caress ECU. Sept. 13 - Georgia Toss-up. I'm leaning toward a win because it's at home, and Georgia will be missing some guys from injury/suspension. Sept. 20 - at Vanderbilt W. No doubt it will be uncomfortably and infuriatingly close. Sept. 27 - Missouri W. Could see it being a wild one similar to last year, and think we'll have the edge again. Oct. 4 - at Kentucky W. See Vanderbilt. Weird stuff happens to us in Lexington. Oct. 16 - Furman W. Obligatory in-state cupcake. Oct. 23 - at Auburn L. Slam dunk prediction. Until we beat them, I won't believe it can be done. Plus they're actually, y'know, good. Nov. 1 - Tennessee W. Gotta be Spurrier's most anticipated game behind Georgia. UT is getting better, but they're still a year away. Nov. 15 - at Florida L. Just have a bad, bad feeling about this game. It might be residual PTSD from the 2012 disaster, but either way, their defense will be a huge challenge on the road. Nov. 22 - South Alabama W. Bizarre choice for a cupcake for us; I think we had another team back out or something. Nov. 28 - at Clemson Toss-up. I feel good about our chances for No. 6, but rivalry games are always weird. Best case scenario: 11-1, SEC East championship. Dylan Thompson delivers on the promise he showed in relief of Connor Shaw and our offense is the best in school history. The defensive line absorbs the losses of Jadeveon Clowney and Kelcy Quarles, and the secondary comes together behind a strong linebacking corps. Special teams are still rough around the edges, but we manage to steer them into a generally respectable direction. Worst case scenario: 8-4. Thompson can't quite put it all together, sparking another quarterback roulette with talented newcomer Connor Mitch getting thrown to the wolves. The defense is a mess -- the line can't generate a semblance of a pass rush and the secondary is completely clueless. Special teams are terrible, and we lose a close game or two because of a muffed punt or a kickoff out of bounds. Realistic scenario: Hard to pin down, honestly. We've got a pretty favorable schedule, but we're going to be breaking in a fair amount of inexperienced players, notably on defense, so I feel like this is a high variance season. I don't think our floor is as low as 7-5, but our realistic ceiling is probably another 10-2 effort, with 9-3 being most likely. Still not a bad year by any means, but I could see us taking a step back. The good news is that the East is in a lot of turmoil, so a record like 9-3 might be good enough to win the division anyway.
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Aug 2, 2014 01:00
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:32 |
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