re: Can South Carolina bounce back to be a factor in the SEC?

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Last I checked it was some kind of "maybe"

It's really unfortunate. He has a lot of talent, and anytime someone doubts his commitment he is quick to defend himself, but then he seems to get taken out for ticky tack injuries.

We're all expected, and excited, to see Freshman David Williams. I don't follow recruiting in details but I know he was a good get and people were excited to have him. Supposed to be talented of course so we'll see how that goes.

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Davis is a good RB when he's healthy and/or committed (whatever the issue might be for him). I think a big reason A&M clobbered SC so badly is that without Davis at a full go the offense was one dimensional. Your QB threw some good deep balls but it seemed that almost every Carolina TD was the same play - a deep ball go route that A&M's DBs just weren't covering or got burnt on. If the run had opened things up a bit more I think you'd have had a better chance against their secondary (it looked like there might have been weaknesses that could've been exploited even more) but without a run game things become so limited.

From my perspective, South Carolina came into that game looking tired and playing sluggish and A&M's quick scores absolutely stunned them. A&M's WRs are good but your young secondary got roasted and found themselves in a hole so quickly that they never got a chance to build any confidence - even though the secondary is a weak spot that's got to have exacerbated things for them given how green and inexperienced they are. The good things for Carolina that I saw were that your WRs woke up a bit and really did start fighting and of course those deep routes/throws - it was too little to late but they showed some grit that is a hopeful sign that the rest of the season might not be a complete wash like a lot of fans think.

Hopefully, either Davis heals/gets it together or Williams proves to a good enough RB to give SC a chance to regroup (not against us of course but in general). I think your secondary is going to be a weakness all year long but there's still plenty of football to be played. The biggest thing is whether they're really as poorly conditioned as they looked and if so, can they get better in a hurry or at least cope with it (there won't be too many hot games left so that should at least help).