re: South Carolina fans: What are your expectations for 2015? Reasons for optimism?

names you'll hear this season for Carolina...

Isaiah Johnson-S, Chris Lammons-CB, DJ Smith-CB, Jonathan Walton-LB, Skai Moore-LB, Qua Lewis-DE, Dante Sawyer-DE.

Connor Mitch-QB, Lorenzo Nunez-QB, Pharoh Cooper-WR, Deebo Samuel-WR, Jerell Adams-TE, Brandon Wilds-RB, David Williams-RB.

ceiling > 10-2 (6-2)
floor > 6-6 (2-6)

at Georgia, at Missouri, at Tennessee, Florida the swing games.

USC saw a big drop off in sacks and turnovers gained from 2013 to 2014. Gamecocks were 10th in the SEC in turnovers gained (19) last season and -2 in t/o margin. that will have to improve considerably in order for Carolina to make a run at Atlanta.

in classic Spurrier fashion, if Mitch can't move the ball, Nunez will get a chance. Pharoh will have his share of direct snaps as well.

Nunez's mobility (mentioned previously in this thread) could also come into play depending on how quickly the OL (which I think will eventually be better/more consistent in 4 of 5 spots this season over last) comes together.

We've got so.e talent, albeit young in some spots .... but who knows.

If the ball bouces our way and if we get on a roll earlly - anything is possible.

I'm going to take this season one game at a time and see how it plays-out with zero expectations for a change.

We may not win a game ..... we may win them all - and anywhere in between I suppose.

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They'll beat Georgia

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We didn't drug test our players after Spring Break this year.


Spurrier shall prepare his anus.

Must have sucked to witness one of the worst teams in UT history beat the GOAT South Carolina squad.

I think we'll win some games, and we might lose some games, no telling which games though.

If the OL can play on par with last year's OL, the offense will be great. We had 2 OL drafted last year, but the LT, Matulis, was a FR All American/Fr All SEC until injuries set him back. That's what happens to true FR OL playing in the SEC, often their labrums are injured.

I don't think there will be a huge drop off from Thompson to Mitch. Mitch was only throwing 2 MPH less than Thompson at this point last year, and I believe he's probably now throwing harder than Thompson did at this point last year. He's had a lot more reps this spring/summer. Plus, Mitch was a 4* stud in HS and still holds many NC HS QB records.

Cooper is the best WR in the SEC. He's also the most versatile. He can run the wildcat and return punts for us (although, I hope we pass that to AJ Turner.)

Our RB situation is solid: 2 Sr's with multiple season experience returning (Wilds and Carson) and a very fast Soph in D. Williams

We'll finally have size at WR, after a 2 year hiatus of anyone worth a salt over 6'2". If Deebo has some big games early, it will only open things up more for Cooper. I'm also looking for Terry Googer, Jalen Christian and Shaq Davidson to get involved.

Our TE situation is legit. Jerrell Adams will be the best TE in the SEC next year. We haven't had a guy with his size/speed since Jared Cook. His backup, KC Crosby, already set the school power clean record as a RS Fr.

Our kicker is very good, Elliot Fry, he's on most All SEC 1st or 2nd team lists. He's made around 99 consecutive PAT's. I'm pleased about the Punter coming in, he was the #1 P in the country last year out of HS.

Our defense are where the question marks are at, but we have a new DC with NFL experience and who's going to be modifying the base to a 4-3. This will let us get 3 of our best defenders on the field at the same time in Walton, Moore and BAW.

The question marks are:
Did the DB's learn from the mistakes last year and will they show that they've learned?
Will the pass rush be improved?

Hopefully the DB's learned, but only time will tell. Our DC specialized in NFL DB's for Houston and Chicago, so I think he can teach them a lot. We had undersized or too slow pass rushers last year. We upgraded the talent a lot with the JUCO Al American DE's and Wideman who was the #1 Prep school player in the country last year. We also have Blackshear coming in, but I think he'll RS.

So, in summary, we'll go as far as the OL and DL take us. If they do well, we have the other things in place to get us to 10+ win totals. If they don't do well, our floor is probably 5 wins. The theme on this year's team is "Earn It." So they nor the fans are running their mouths much, hopefully all our talk is done on the field.

Cockopotamus dropping the firecock up in here.

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Must have sucked to witness one of the worst teams in UT history beat the GOAT South Carolina squad.

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So you're saying SC remains the Vols signature wins?

PAIN