Is a Moral Victory Enough to Bring South Carolina Past East Carolina
Written by James Gray II
Twitter: @JGray1221
After escaping Nashville with a stolen victory, expectations were lifted heading into Starkville taking on Mississippi State. Not only were expectations raised, but the Gamecock faithful expected a win after learning that South Alabama had upset the Bulldogs 21-20 in Week 1.
The first play from scrimmage for the Gamecocks against the Bulldogs spoke volumes for how the rest of the game would go. Pharoh Cooper’s “replacement”, Deebo Samuel, would get a step on his defender and go deep, only to pull up limping with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Senior quarterback Perry Orth perfectly threw the ball deep and Samuel would’ve gone for six had he not injured himself.
From there Carolina’s offensive line would get torched by the Bulldog’s defense. By games’ end, USC had surrendered 4.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The finished product was exactly why I wasn’t in favor of Shawn Elliott taking over this year as head coach. The offensive line has never been top notch in his tenure at Carolina.
Defensively, Carolina only got one key stop on a fourth down and added an interception. It seemed like these guys hadn’t practiced tackling all off season. Defenders were not wrapping up and Mississippi State’s ball carriers were bouncing off hits running for more yards. The Gamecocks wouldn’t find success offensively or defensively in the first half, and would trail 24-0 at the mid mark.
The first half was painful to watch as dark memories of a season ago reemerged and negativity entered fans’ minds. With the Perry experiment looking to be a repeat of last year, my heart pleaded for Muschamp to play the highly sought after freshman Brandon McIlwain.
My wish was granted as Brandon came out in the second half with confidence and was impressive in a SEC road game.
McIlwain would end the second half 11-of-22, for 126 yards, with two touchdowns, and ran for 36 yards. Though the Gamecocks would still lose the game, Brandon brought hope to this season as he outscored the Bulldogs 14-3 in the second half, which was a big moral victory for the team heading into their matchup against East Carolina.
Not only was Brandon successful in the second half but the defense showed promise as well. The defense does have playmakers, but lacks chemistry as a unit. Muschamp is well documented for his defenses. He has guys on the roster, now they need to put it together. They cannot afford to wait to play defense in the second half like they did last year.
The home opener will be a true test as region rival ECU is 2-0 and fresh off a win against N.C. State.
ECU senior quarterback Philip Nelson has already tossed six touchdowns this season with two key targets that have combined for four touchdown receptions and 392 yards in senior Zay Jones and running back junior Anthony Scott. Scott has also been successful on the ground with 161 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the Pirates first two games.
Defensively, the linebackers carry the Pirates unit as senior Dayon Pratt and sophomore Yiannis Bowden have combined for 5.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
After watching the Pirates game against N.C. State, this Saturday’s game could very well be a shootout. Offensively, the Gamecocks will have to figure things out quickly as East Carolina already has enough experience in putting points up.
Not only is this game seemingly a must win for a South Carolina bowl game invite, but in terms of recruiting the 2018 class, there might not be a bigger game this year. Three of the Top 20 recruits in the 2018 class will be in attendance, including the No. 1 overall recruit DE Xavier Thomas (Florence, SC), a 5-star defensive end. Others joining Thomas includes four-star defensive end KJ Henry (Clemmons, NC) and the top RB Zamir White (Laurinburg, NC), another five-star prospect.
Carolina has been on a roll lately in recruiting filling up the 2017 class landing the top recruit in South Carolina in wide out OrTre Smith of Wando on Sunday. With the addition of Smith, Carolina has snagged five straight four-star recruits. This type of recruiting in Columbia has not been seen since the Marcus Lattimore and Jadeveon Clowney days.
So not only is a potential bowl game invite on the line for USC, so is signing the biggest recruiting class since the Clowney days.
The new era under Muschamp has begun and South Carolina could very well be 0-2. Gamecock fans should be pleased with a 1-1 start, and don’t for a second think ECU is a pushover game. The Gamecocks will have to scratch and claw for a win in their Williams Brice opener.
In the end, South Carolina should pull out a tight one winning 27-24.
Photo credit: maroonandwhitenation.com; Will Muschamp on the South Carolina sidelines.