Gamecocks Connection: Unpredictable

Unpredictable.

Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.

This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country, reader questions, and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.

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What’s on the docket today?

The South Carolina football program entered 2023 wanting to do away with having so many ups and downs during the season. With the nation’s toughest schedule, that was always going to be hard. But at 1-2, there’s a lot of ball left to play. I’ll discuss later in this space.

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Get caught up.

Three quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.

🏈 Mississippi State head football coach Zach Arnett gave his opening thoughts on Monday on the matchup with South Carolina.

🏈 Juice Wells is out this week, but Shane Beamer gave more details on his prognosis for the season.

🏈 Josiah Thompson, a verbal commit to Gamecock football for the 2024 class, was ranked as a five-star prospect this week by On3.

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The main idea.

— The Gamecocks entered this 2023 season with a mix of known and unknown.

And if there’s one thing you can predict about South Carolina, it is that there will be some surprises along the way.

Shane Beamer’s first two seasons in Columbia have had some lows, but have also produced some exhilarating highs. Beamer and his strength and conditioning coach, Luke Day, talked after both the 2021 and 2022 seasons about becoming a more consistent football team, about trying to eliminate some of those lows.

To Beamer’s credit – and his players – he’s been able to find a way to keep everyone engaged even when some have given up on his team. Last season, not a soul would have predicted a USC win – much less a 63-point explosion – against Tennessee just a week after the Gamecocks looked horrific in The Swamp.

In 2021, look at this stretch for South Carolina in consecutive weeks:

– Beat Vanderbilt by one at home
– Get shellacked at A&M
– Beat Florida by 23
– Lose by 3 at Missouri
– Upset Auburn at home
– Get shut out by Clemson at home

Last season, there was more. USC finally beat Kentucky and A&M at home, but lost at home to Missouri and badly at Florida prior to upsetting a pair of top 10 teams.

With one of – if not the – toughest schedules in the country this year, it was fair to expect some tough moments. The season opener against North Carolina was a tough pill to swallow for many reasons. A close, ten-point loss against Georgia looks more like a missed opportunity than excitement over how competitive USC was in the game.

While this season has already proven it’s going to have more ups and downs, what we do know is what we don’t know.

Most of the games on this schedule are toss-ups at best. USC’s lost one of those. What it does with the other ones will determine the course of the season, the difference between a few wins, a bunch, or somewhere in between.

For those just assuming the season is going to turn around, that’s probably a dangerous proposition given the fact that these Gamecocks need to play a lot better to find wins. The team definitely looked better in week three than it did in week one, which is a plus. 

For those thinking the season is over because of losing the opener, one could point to Beamer’s propensity for picking his team up off the mat as proof that idea is probably not wise, either.  Beamer’s players are still projecting plenty of confidence.

We have three weeks of data in college football, and a lot of it is all over the map. We’re still learning about all the teams on USC’s schedule, and we’re still trying to figure out this team, too. 

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