Boy, would I like to see SC have a breakout season.***
- Thread starter Freddie.B.Cocky
- Start date
I would like to see us have a nice season, but the schedule is very tough.
I would guess we will be fighting for around a .500 record like we typically are most years.
I would guess we will be fighting for around a .500 record like we typically are most years.
I would say a new OC, new OL coach and entirely new OL is pretty drastic.
No idea if it will work, but that's drastic.
Man, unless the staff here is just blowing a ton of smoke I'm going to be very disappointed if we don't have a good to very good year. Other than the questionable position groups that I believe JC mentioned I am really bought into we have core groups that compete with most of the teams on our schedule, meaning I'm seeing the over/under at 9 games. We certainly have more depth which is a major plus!
It's no tougher than everybody else's SEC schedule. I'm sick of hearing the "tough schedule" comment every damn year. It'll never change.
It will never change. If we have the 25th ranked recruiting class but only 11th or 12th in the SEC then that's probably where we'll finish. Until we magically have a Top 5 class then Carolina will be a middle or lower tier SEC team. I will say this though, 2024 and the 3 11-2 seasons were pretty magical.
The people in Vegas, who actually have a financial interest in such things, puts the over/under at 6.5 this season.
I foresee a 6-6 regular season. There will be one nice upset win and probably one inexplicable loss. I don't see any more talent than last year's team.
I didn't say it was tougher than anyone else's schedule- I said it was tough- and I think that is obviously true. That doesn't change because someone doesn't like it.
College Football News ranked us the 18th toughest schedule in the country- harder than Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, etc. Here is what they say
- At Alabama, at Florida, at Oklahoma, at Clemson. Those four alone would be a season-killer for many teams.
If you disagree, that's fine. It's prediction season and my opinion is our tough schedule will impact our win/loss record. We will see in November.
At Florida hasn't really been that much of a problem lately and Clemson lost 6 games last season. One reason UGA, Ohio State, Oregon, Bama, etc. don't have harder ranked schedule is because they don't have to play themselves. UGA has Bama and Ole Miss on the road and Oklahoma at home.
Every SEC team has a difficult schedule.
I think your season prediction is on target and that's why I said around .500.
We might have more talent on offense, but the offensive line is still a HUGE question mark and if they aren't much better, the offensive talent might not result in anything different this year than last- except maybe another win or two- getting us those 6 wins.
The defense might be a wash from last year. Like you, I don't see any more talent on this defense than last year- and Dylan Stewart not being able to play (which I don't think he will see meaningful action before mid-season - if at all) means our defense might be no better than last.
But that Clemson team beat us last year. At Florida by itself isn't really the big issue. College Football News just mentioned those 4 road games would be tough for a lot of teams. Florida always expects to beat us- and they usually do no matter how sorry they are. We've only beat them once in the last 6 years. 2 out of the last 9 games. 4 out of the last 12.
and how many times have we faced a team with a new coach thinking "well, our staff is more established and we should have an advantage over a new coach and new coaching staff" - and 3 mins after the game be mad as hell wondering how we lost to a team with a brand new staff? too many times.
So, I think it's reasonable to look at that as a tough game for South Carolina.
Yes- obviously every SEC team has a difficult schedule. Never heard anyone argue with that.
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I agree with all of that. I think there is a lot of typical pre season optimism among fans. The OL will be completely new, with a new coach. Lots of people are assuming, with no real reason to, that the new OL is going to be good. I think it will have to be better than last season, but I'll be surprised if it is SEC level "good". Sellers favorite target, his brother, is gone for the season and there has been no indication of a RB pulling away from the mediocre pack from last season.
On defense, I, like you, think Stewart's injury is worse than what is being said. As I posted before, he has had 9 months off, no Spring practice and has had access to some of the best rehab available and he still isn't ready to play in two weeks. I can see him coming back in week 3 but struggling with the back injury for the whole season and not being near the disruptive force he was. Without Stewart at 100%, the defense is very pedestrian.
Ok, let's get to 6. Kent St, Towson, Miss St, UK, and at Arkansas. Those are all must games, given that four of those are at home. We need one win from at Bama, at Florida, UT, at Oklahoma, Texas A&M, UGA, and at Clemson.
No, this time is REAL, because he typed a long post about it!
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