Previewing Tennessee's opponents: South Carolina

Revenge will be in the air in Knoxville on the final Saturday in September. That’s when South Carolina will roll into Neyland Stadium and the Vols will finally have a chance at payback for what happened in Columbia last fall.

Tennessee waltzed into South Carolina last November in the next to last week of the regular season very much still a part of the playoff picture.

The Vols left Columbia on the wrong end of a shocking 63-38 score, no longer a real piece of the playoff puzzle.

2022 record: 8-5

Head coach: Shane Beamer, (3rd year, 15-11)

SEASON OUTLOOK: OFFENSE

For most of 2022 South Carolina’s offense was fairly pedestrian. They finished the year in the middle of the SEC pack, ranking 8th in scoring offense 31.7 ppg and 9th in total offense 381.1 ypg.

Similarly, quarterback Spencer Rattler was nothing special for the majority of the season. Prior to facing Tennessee Rattler had thrown for 300 yards just once, all the way back in Week Two against Arkansas. Prior to facing the Vols Rattler had thrown more than two touchdowns in a game on just one occasion, against Vanderbilt.

Heck, just the week before facing Tennessee Rattler threw for less than 200 yards and South Carolina’s offense didn’t even score a touchdown in a 38-6 loss at Florida.

Well, we all know what happened next. Rattler looked like the best quarterback in college football when he sliced up Tennessee for 438 passing yards and a crisp six touchdowns.

Rattler passes for 2,780 yards and 16 TDs last fall, so more than a third of his scoring tosses came in that win over Tennessee.

Rattler is obviously back this fall and if he can build on the way he closed out 2022 (he was also very good in the finale against Clemson) then he has a shot to be one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC this fall.

There’s a new play caller in town with Dowell Loggains coming in from Arkansas as the new offensive coordinator. Loggains has a track record of working with quarterbacks as an NFL assistant, but served as the tight ends coach at Arkansas the past two seasons.

Rattler has his most productive wideout back to work with. Antwane “Juice” Wells (68 rec., 928 yards, 6 TDs) is back for the Gamecocks. After that though the Gamecock’s receiving room is largely devoid of experience.

Memphis transfer Eddie Lewis (42 rec., 615 yards, 7 TDs in ’22) is probably a plug-and-play guy at one wideout spot. Tight end Trey Knox (26 rec., 296 yards, 5 TDs in ’22) followed Loggains from Arkansas.

With Rattler and Wells in place South Carolina should be able to cobble together a productive passing attack. Whether or not they can engineer a ground game is the bigger mystery.

The Gamecocks struggled mightily to run the ball in 2022, ranking 12th in the SEC at just 123 yards per game while averaging less than 4.0 yards per carry (3.7).

Last year’s leading rusher Marshawn Loyd transferred to the ‘other’ USC in the offseason leaving Juju McDowell (62 att., 219 yards in ’22) as the most productive returning tailback.

Athlete Dakereon Joyner, who has played everywhere on offense for the Gamecocks, could get a shot at being more of a full-time running back this fall given the apparent needs there.

The offensive line looks like a work in progress after losing three starters from last year’s group. That unit got dealt another blow when starting left tackle Jaylen Nichols suffered what Shane Beamer described as a ‘pretty significant injury’ in South Carolina’s spring game.

Fifth year senior Jakai Moore, who has started at tackle and guard in his career, is the most experienced offensive lineman and probably the one known commodity in this group until Nichols can get back on the field.

The line not only had probably generating push in the ground game, South Carolina quarterbacks were sacked 28 times last year, only four other SEC teams gave up more sacks.

SEASON OUTLOOK: DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS

Rattler and former offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield drew a lot of ire from South Carolina fans until the team got hot last November, but the defense was also a pretty consistent problem all year long in 2022.

The Gamecocks finished 10th in the SEC in scoring defense (27.5 ppg) and were simply inept at stopping opposing rushing attacks. South Carolina was 13th in the SEC in defending the run, giving up 192 yards per game on the ground. Against SEC competition that number swelled to 206 yards per game given up on the ground.

The challenge of improving the run defense is made more difficult by the fact that the Gamecocks had some significant losses up front. Former big-time recruit Jordan Burch transferred to Oregon, which was a blow.

Veteran tackle Tonka Hemingway is back and is a proven performer, but there are some unknowns elsewhere up front. Defensive end Jordan Strachan recorded 10 sacks at Georgia St. in 2021, but suffered a torn ACL in the second week of the season last fall. Getting him back healthy will be key.

Syracuse transfer Jatius Greer (33 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks in ’22) should provide immediate help at defensive end.

Finding a way to generate some pass rush is a priority for this unit. South Carolina recorded just 18 sacks last fall. Only Vanderbilt was less effective at getting to the passer among SEC teams.

Linebacker Mohamed Kaba also suffered a torn ACL in that Arkansas game last year and missed the remainder of the season. Once fully healthy he’ll bring a veteran presence to the second level. Redshirt junior Deebo Williams (43 tackles in ’22) gives the Gamecocks another veteran at linebacker.

The Gamecocks ranked fourth in the SEC in pass defense last fall, giving up just 199 yards per game through the air. You don’t know if they were really that solid or if opposing offenses simply chose to lean hard on the ground game because the Gamecocks were so ineffective at stopping it.

South Carolina is dealing with a couple of major losses at cornerback where Cam Smith and Darius Rush both had their names called in the NFL Draft, but there’s experience coming back as well.

Safeties Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith were thrown into the fire as true freshman last year and survived. Emmanwori led the Gamecocks in tackles with 85. Smith was fourth with 54, so those spots in the back end are solid.

South Carolina’s special teams under Beamer have been excellent and the Gamecocks bring back veterans in both kicking jobs.

Kai Kroeger averaged 46.1 yards per punt last fall, fifth nationally. He’s also a perfect 6-for-6 throwing the ball off of fakes in his career, so that’s always something to be mindful of.

Kicker Mitch Jeter wasn’t prolific, but he was a perfect 11-for-11 on field goal attempts last fall and was 2-for-2 on attempts outside of 50 yards.

FINAL OUTLOOK

South Carolina has some pretty clear strengths, starting with Rattler at quarterback. If he can approach being the player he was in the final two games of the regular season last year in wins over Tennessee and Clemson, then the Gamecock’s have the potential to be very solid on offense.

If they are going to be better than average on that side of the ball though, Rattler is probably going to have to be pretty spectacular.

The offensive line looks like a major concern right now and there definitely doesn’t appear to be a game breaker a tailback. South Carolina struggled to run the ball and to protect the passer last fall. On paper, it’s difficult to see how they’ll be greatly improved in either area in 2023.

Defensively the concerns are definitely focused in the front seven. If there’s an explosive playmaker there he hasn’t emerged yet.

The Gamecocks were one of the worst run defenses in the SEC last fall, and given the personnel losses in the defensive line, they may be that bad or worse again in 2023.

The strength of the defense is definitely in the secondary, but if you can’t stop the run, every Saturday in this league is going to be a challenge.