2017 Gamecock Recruiting: Running backs and quarterbacks
(02/02/17 3:19am)
2017 Gamecock Signing Class: The Backs
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2017 Gamecock Signing Class: The Backs
2017 Gamecock Signing Class: The Receiving Core
One of Will Muschamp's main focuses on the recruiting trail was to secure top-flight in-state talent, and he certainly accomplished that goal in his 2017 class, his first full year bringing in recruits. The top six South Carolina prospects in Rivals' rankings will wear the garnet and black next season, and five of them were committed before National Signing Day.
In the 2017 football recruiting cycle alone, 630 (and counting) players have decommitted from coaches and teams after announcing their verbal commitments. By the time you read this, that number could be up to 650, or maybe even 700. That's because high schoolers are dishonoring their pledges at an unprecedented rate this cycle, as was the case with the 2016 class.
Situated between an assembly line of squat racks and a nutrition bar that wouldn't look out of place in a Miami night club, I walk into the office of Jeff Dillman, South Carolina's director of strength and conditioning. In my pocket, I bring with me two freshly minted parking citations. I also carry a lingering defensiveness after being made to wait an extra 10 minutes for my credentials to be validated. So it goes.
After missing the 2016 season with a herniated disk, South Carolina linebacker Skai Moore will return to the gridiron in 2017. During a halftime ceremony at a men's basketball game against Ole Miss on Jan. 14, it was announced that Moore will return to the Gamecocks, despite some speculation that he might begin to pursue a professional career after recovering from his neck injury.
The Wildcard Round has whittled the NFL playoff pool down to just eight teams. Still, four former Gamecocks figure to prominently represent South Carolina's program during the remainder of the Super Bowl push.
South Carolina fans watching the CFP have a choice. They can root for their eternal rival, or they can root for a program that has a complete stranglehold over their entire conference. Both are overwhelmingly enticing options. Don't curb your enthusiasm.
The extreme level of ambiguity towards defining success in college football is unique to the sport. That ambiguity is ingrained in the game's origins. It is part of its beauty. It is also confounding.
South Carolina's first three drives in the Birmingham Bowl resulted in an interception and two punts, as the Gamecocks ran just 11 plays in the first quarter. From then on, true freshman quarterback Jake Bentley led South Carolina on a surge, throwing for 390 yards and three touchdowns to force overtime and bring his team back from 15 and 18-point deficits.
South Florida was 9-0 when leading after the first quarter this season, and judging from the first 15 minutes of Thursday's Birmingham Bowl, it didn't look like South Carolina was the team to break that trend.
Will Muschamp recruited USF quarterback Quinton Flowers out of high school, while the former three-star prospect played in Miami. According to Flowers, Muschamp, then the coach at Florida, wanted the stand-out quarterback to play safety, joining a list of other coaches who wanted the nation's No. 9 dual-threat quarterback switch positions.
After compiling six wins and qualifying for bowl game eligibility, South Carolina has officially accepted the opportunity to play in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29. Opposing the Gamecocks will be the South Florida Bulls of the American Athletic Conference.
After 13 weeks of slugging it out on the gridiron, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators will face off in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama survived the brutal SEC West and established themselves as the No. 1 team in the nation, while Florida rose from the mess that was the SEC East to reach Atlanta.
Rivalry Week serves to kindle a heightened sense of tension in college football's final weekend of the regular season, but for several South Carolina players, Clemson's display of emotions crossed the line of acceptable competitive behavior.
Early in the first quarter, Clemson scored a touchdown. Then another. Then another. Before you knew it, Will Muschamp led South Carolina into the locker room facing a 35-0 deficit. And it didn't get any better for the visitors from there.
Week 12 Record: (8-2)
Ahead of Saturday's rivalry matchup with Clemson, managing editor Adam Orfinger got in touch with Allison Daniel, the sports editor of Clemson's The Tiger, to preview the game.
The South Carolina Gamecock's young offense was put on display when they set a season high for points scored in their 44-point win over Western Carolina.
South Carolina scored early and often on their way a 44-31 win over Western Carolina in their final home game of the season.