re: Mizzou Fan's Concerns with South Carolina

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This year they will have the most talented team since 1984. Their defense will be stout however the new Defensive Coordinator Lorenzo Ward is a wild card. Last year, Ellis Johnson was the DC and they were a top 5 defense. This year, L Ward wants to blitz more but they do not have the secondary to really accomplish that goal imo.

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Fair enough.

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Teams will not be able to run that much on thier front four (Taylor and Clowney are names you need to know - beast mode on the D Line) however I think that passing the ball will be the way to defeat SC.

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Probably the opposite. The ends are stout -- the tackles (Quarles and Jerideau) are the question marks. We may be weak up the middle, so the strategy for most teams will be to establish the run inside. I doubt the pass defense will be as good as last year -- but that is a secondary issue -- not a defensive line issue.

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On offense, they have a good QB in Shaw, however his numbers from last year are hard to analysis. He started the last 4 regular season games and the bowl game and was efficent however there were many times he just threw the ball up in the air and Alson Jeffery would go up and get it (example - the end of the first half vs Nebraska in the bowl game).

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You're referencing a hail mary??? No offense, but this is so wrong. Stephen Garcia chucked the ball up to Alshon. Shaw does not -- he runs the offense, goes through his checkdowns, and throws to multiple receivers.

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Jeffery is not there and they only have one receiver that has played significantly and his name is Ace Sanders. Ace is fast but has the droppies. He will fly past defenders and stretch the field but will he catch the ball consistantly?

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No - Ace has great hands. The fast guy with the droppies is Damiere Byrd. You are right that Ace is our only returning receiver with significant catches, so it is fair to say that receiver is a position with question marks.

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Marcus Lattimore is legit. He came off of knee surgery and will be their weapon of choice. He will probably carry the ball 30 times a game. He ran for over 200 yards against Georgia last year and should be able to continue that type of running.

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Correct -- although the coaches have stated Marcus will get fewer carries unless the game is on the line.

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The only knock on Lattimore is that he seems to get hurt each year and is out for a period of time. His freshman year, he got injured at Kentucky and then again in the bowl game vs Florida State. Last year, it was a fluke injury on the knee against Miss State. It will be interesting to see if he is 100% this year.

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The injuries against Florida State (concussion) and Mississippi State were flukes. The injury against KY was more a lack of college-level conditioning in a true freshman. Hopefully, Latti will not suffer another fluke injury, but in terms of general durability, he is solid. Dude is in phenomenal shape and does not get tired.

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The others backs are solid but nothing like Lattimore. Incoming freshman Mike Davis may get a shot if injuries mount up.

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Mike Davis will redshirt. Running back is our deepest and most talented position. Granted the others are nothing like Lattimore, but who is?

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The oline is another concern. The center and two guards are SEC quality. Not sure about the tackles.

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The oline is a concern from an experience standpoint, but talent-wise will easily be Spurrier's best at USC. The tackles are Brandon Shell (6'6", 331 pound redshirt freshman) and Mike Matulis (6'5", 290 pound sophomore). As a recruit, Shell was Rivals #4 tackle in the country. He is a stud. Matulis was supposed to redshirt, but got 4 starts last year when Kyle Nunn went down with a back injury. Matulis was badly overmatched physically last year, so we have to hope he is much improved. No concern on Shell or the rest -- definite concerns on Matulis.

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USC can go anywhere from 11-1 to 8-4

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That's reasonable.