SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: South Carolina

It’s been a particularly unusual college football offseason, but with the recent news that Tennessee players will return to campus this month and start voluntary workouts on June 8, there’s real optimism that a season will still happen despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we do each year, here’s a brief snapshot of Tennessee’s 12 opponents for the fall. We continue the preseason preview series with a look at the South Carolina Gamecocks.

SOUTH CAROLINA — Oct. 10

2019 Record: 4-8

Head Coach: Will Muschamp

Against the hardest schedule in the nation — South Carolina faced four Top 10 teams plus North Carolina, Texas A&M and App. State — the Gamecocks cratered in 2019.

Outside of an overtime upset at Georgia, Will Muschamp’s squad was routinely routed, losing by double-digits six times.

Quarterback Jake Bentley was lost for the season after just one game and their offense was mostly stuck in the mud the rest of the year (104th nationally in scoring offense, 106th in yards per play and No. 120th in third down conversions). Once again, Muschamp changed offensive coordinators this offseason, retooling most of his staff in Year 5 headlined by former Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo.

Although the Rams weren’t any good under Bobo, their offense was not a problem and Bobo also engineered some powerful attacks during his time as OC at Georgia in the 2000s. He is now tasked with developing sophomore Ryan Hilinski. The former West Coast product was beat to a pulp behind a shoddy offensive line last season, completing just 58% of his attempts in a mostly dink-and-dunk attack (No. 123 nationally in yards per attempt). Hilinski is the favorite for the starting job, but CSU transfer quarterback Collin Hill is now at Carolina and knows Bobo’s offense well. The offensive line loses just a single starter and returns several other notable backups, too, so while the unit took its lumps last season there’s hope some progression is made under a new offensive staff.

The Gamecocks do have to replace nearly all their notable playmakers from last year, though. Wideout Bryce Edwards (71 receptions) is gone. So are the team’s top three tailbacks who combined for 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns — although the group didn’t have a dynamic ‘back. Freshman running back MarShawn Lloyd was a blue-chip signee who could carry the load early, while Shi Smith (who had 43 receptions and two touchdowns in 2019), OrTre Smith and Josh Vann are all expected to become bigger factors at receiver.

One of the reasons for Carolina’s tumble last season was the team’s continued regression defensively. Javon Kinlaw was a beat (a first-round NFL Draft pick) and D.J. Wonnum was fairly productive, but the unit as a whole was middling despite Muschamp’s expertise. The Gamecocks were 55th nationally in yards per play allowed (5.53) and were just ok in pretty much every defensive category outside of intercepting passes. The secondary should be the team’s top unit this fall, featuring a nice mixture of experience and youth. Juniors Jaycee Horn and Isreal Mukuamu formed a solid cornerback duo a year ago, and sophomore Jammie Robinson played a lot at STAR and safety.

There’s no replacing Kinlaw, and Wonnum and Kobe Smith ate up a lot of snaps, too, but the Gamecocks have recruited really well along the defensive line. They’re just inexperienced. Zacch Pickens is a former 5-star. Rick Sandidge and Joseph Anderson were blue-chip recruits. Others like Keir Thomas, Kingsley Enagbare, Jabari Ellis and Devontae Davis should take on bigger roles as well. Oh, and with the drama now officially over, 5-star signee Jordan Burch enters the mix.

1. Muschamp inherited a broken program at Carolina after Steve Spurrier abruptly resigned midseason in 2015, but he once again finds himself on the proverbial hot seat after a 7-6 season followed by a 4-8 year.

Notably, Muschamp has the full support of his AD Ray Tanner, who hired him and has a lot of power at Carolina, but both could be seeking other employment if the year goes really poorly once again.

Muschamp understands the urgency, too. He didn’t just tab his buddy Bobo to fix the offense. He pretty much overhauled his entire staff this offseason, retaining just three on-field coaches. He also made a change at strength and conditioning coordinator and hired Drew Hughes, formally at Tennessee, as his new player personnel director.

2. How much work does Bobo have to do to ignite an offense with no gas? Last season, Carolina scored just a single touchdown the last three weeks of the season (vs. App. State, Texas A&M and Clemson) and failed to score at least four touchdowns in any game all year outside of a bludgeoning an FCS school.

3. With so many good linebackers in the SEC, Ernest Jones is easily overlooked, but the now-junior could find himself on some all-conference teams by the end of the year if he has another strong season. Jones led the Gamecocks with 97 tackles in 2019, also chipping in a couple interceptions, 5.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and five pass breakups.

4. Carolina signed the nation’s No. 17 class in 2020. The Gamecocks added a pair of 5-stars, as well as potential impact playmakers like Rico Powers, JUCO tailback ZaQuandre White and wideout Michael Wyman. Luke Doty is unlikely to be in the mix this fall, but the dual-threat quarterback a Top 100 prospect last cycle.

5. A year after playing 10 Power 5 schools, plus an App. State team that was ranked, the schedule softens a bit for Carolina this season. The Gamecocks still have to play Top 25 foes Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Florida and Texas A&M, so they still face a gauntlet. Their win total is set at 5.5 in some places and six at others. ESPN’s FPI sees the ‘Cocks as heavy favorites in five games, with a toss-up against Tennessee.