Exciting, trying times: Five reasons why Carolina fans should be excited, yet worried for 2010

With the end of one season comes the start of a new one, and in the world of college football that start gives millions of fans hope.

That couldn’t be truer in the SEC, especially at the University of South Carolina where some of the most loyal fans in the world have sat through 100 plus seasons of basically average football waiting for their Gamecocks to finally break through to the top.

After an agonizing loss in the Papajohns.com bowl to UCONN, USC fans have been looking forward to 2010 for many reasons, and those fans have reason to be excited; Carolina’s defense should once again be one of the best in the SEC, and their quarterback is the only one returning in the SEC East. Marcus Lattimore is almost a sure thing to at least give a boost to the Gamecock rushing attack, and the wide receiving combination of Alshon Jeffery, Tori Gurley and D.L. Moore will pose intimidating matchup problems for teams all season long.

On the other hand, however, USC lacks depth and a proven thing at the linebacker position, the teams focus has been all over the place in recent years and that same quarterback who just so happens to be the only returner in the SEC East has been in head coach Steve Spurrier’s dog house since the start of spring practice.

With all that, here are five reasons why the Gamecock faithful should be excited for 2010 and five more reasons why they should be weary of their team’s chances next season.

Be excited:

1. It’s all about the D

Ellis Johnson’s unit finished third in the SEC and 15th in the nation in total defense last season, giving up just 301 yards per game, but, with the loss of linebacker Eric Norwood and defensive end Clifton Geathers, some fans might be wondering where the defensive production will come from in 2010. Well, with the return of 5th year senior Rodney Paulk at linebacker and a great mixture of young talent and veteran leadership in the secondary, the Gamecocks’ D should rank up there with the best again this season. Stephon Gilmore was clearly a legit shutdown corner in the SEC last season as a freshmen, logging 56 tackles, two sacks and an interception. Along with junior Akeem Auguste who will be moving from cornerback to his natural safety position and senior Chris Culliver moving up to take Auguste’s cornerback spot, look for Gilmore and company to wreak havoc on opposing wide receivers.

The defensive line should be just as good as the secondary in 2010 as Cliff Matthews, who finished tied with Eric Norwood for the team lead in sacks last season with seven, decided to return for his senior season. He will be the clear leader of a line next season that is anchored by fellow senior Ladi Ajiboye and redshirt sophomore Devin Taylor. Those three players alone combined for 120 tackles last season and, in an SEC East that only has one starting quarterback returning (Stephen Garcia), USC’s defensive line should be able to up its sack total in 2010.

2. Triple towers

Last year it was all supposed to be about Moe Brown and his senior season when it came to the wide receivers, but after Tori Gurley’s early season performance (including a handful of touchdowns called back because of penalties) and the show that Alshon Jeffery put on for Carolina fans from the Kentucky game onward, the USC receiving corps ended up amassing 2940 yards and 18 TDs. Granted 491of those yards and three of the touchdowns will be walking away with Brown’s graduation, but the starting receiving corps for the Gamecocks should be one of the team’s greatest strengths next season.

One reason why is the emergence of D.L. Moore during spring practice. Hardly a day went by at the Proving Grounds without D.L. impressing someone, and during the Garnet and Black spring game his improvement came full circle; Head coach Steve Spurrier named Moore the most improved offensive player of the spring and he didn’t disappoint the crowd catching a beautiful 34 yard pass from true freshman Connor Shaw for a touchdown.

3. Spurrier calling the shots

The man responsible for Florida’s fun ‘n gun days back in the 90’s is set to finally bring the cock ‘n fire offense to Columbia.

The the only troubling thing to come out of this situation is the fact that Spurrier says he’ll still allow input from various sources on his coaching staff when it comes to calling plays. While Spurrier does need to consult his new offensive line coach and run game coordinator Shawn Elliot during the week on which rushing plays to call, and get together with QB coach G.A. Mangus from time to time to figure out what type of passing attack will best suit Stephen Garcia, Spurrier should be the only one calling in plays on game-day. Too many pointless delay of game penalties have been called in the past two seasons as a result of play-call confusion and the Gamecocks can ill afford to give up those needless penalties in 2010.

Yet even though Spurrier might have his fellow coaches buzzing in his headphones next season, the fact that he’s decided to take on the overwhelming majority of play calling duties has plenty of Gamecock fans smiling, and for good reason; when the Head Ball Coach was calling plays at Florida he brought the team its first official SEC championship (their ’84 title was vacated) and led an offense that put up impressive numbers all decade long.

4. Marcus Lattimore

It’s pretty simple: Gamecock nation rejoiced this summer with the news of Marcus Lattimore’s decision to come to USC and attempt to lift the Gamecock’s running game out of mediocrity. The Duncan, SC native rushed for 1898 yards and 31 touchdowns during his senior season and was rated as a five star prospect by many national recruiting outlets. It’s hard to say who will get the starting running back spot against SMU, but don’t be surprised if Lattimore ends up starting before the midway point of the season. Watching some of his tape literally gave me goosebumps and knowing that he’ll be lining up against the Auburn Tigers this season instead of for them should put a smile on your face (if you’re a gamecock fan that is).

Weaknesses

1. Shawn Elliot has his hands full

First year offensive line coach Shawn Elliot walked into a tough situation when he took over for Eric Wolford after the team’s abysmal performance in the Papajohns.com bowl. The offensive line helped UCONN’s defense hold USC’s rushing attack to just 76 yards in that game and helped opposing defenses sack Stephen Garcia 37 times last season. Elliot is the third offensive line coach in the past three years for the Gamecocks who’ve suffered through more than their fair share of sacks over the past two seasons. Spurrier obviously has faith that Elliot can get the job done or else he wouldn’t have gotten the job, but whether or not he’ll be able to turn the offensive line around this season is a huge question, and in the SEC its a longshot that a team with a weak offensive will finds itself in Atlanta at the end of the season.

2. Going through the gauntlet

With the amount of players that Florida lost to the draft after last season and the turmoil that many of USC’s rivals have at the quarterback position this year Spurrier’s squad finds itself prime to make a run at the SEC East title this season, however, the Gamecocks can ill afford to lose any of its early season bouts with traditional SEC powers Georgia and Auburn. The Bulldogs will be at Williams Brice Stadium on Sept. 11 to face Carolina in just their second game of the year, and the Gamecocks will travel to Auburn on Sept. 25 to battle with the Tigers in their fourth game of the year. If USC were to lose either of those two games they would find themselves in an early hole and would face a hard mountain to climb with games against Alabama, Arkansas, and at Florida all coming later in the year. According to Phil Steele the Gamecocks have the second hardest schedule in the country after having the toughest ranked schedule last season. The only good thing about the Gamecocks 2010 schedule is the amount of home games against quality opponents they will play. Aside from traveling to Auburn and Florida the only other road games the team will play next season are against Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Clemson.

3. Lacking linebackers

While the defensive line and secondary should be huge strengths for the 2010 Gamecocks the linebacking corps will most likely be the weakest part of the defense. Shaq Wilson, who is slated by many to replace Eric Norwood on the outside, had an unimpressive spring and none of his fellow linebackers impressed much over that stretch either.

All of this talk may be thrown out the window, however, if Rodney Paulk comes back and has himself a monster season. The 6’0’’ senior out of Columbia was knocked out for the entire season last year after a knee injury in the Gamecock’s first game of the year. Paulk has the size and the ability to be a menace for opposing offenses, but after sitting out an entire season and spring one has to wonder whether or not Paulk will take some time to get going.

4. Focus

There’s really no reason to make a fancy title for this one; Coach Spurrier said it himself after the Spring Game, the Gamecocks have a hard time dealing with compliments and success, and, if the team is going to make a run at the SEC East title, they’ll obviously be dealing with success and compliments galore. Should the Gamecocks head into the easily winnable Furman game in week three undefeated will they play like they did against SC State this past season and keep the game embarrassingly close, or will they play up to their ability and steamroll the Paladins like they should? Perhaps a more pressing question is will they overlook a good SMU team in the first game of the year or will they come into the game looking to make a statement and put on a show for the fans? It goes without saying that for the Gamecocks to be successful this year they’ll have to keep their collective focus the entire season, but, that’s just it; right now it seems like the Gamecocks need someone to say that to them and a winning team shouldn’t have that problem.

The unanswered question

Ok, so there’s only four of each, but it’s just so hard to put a finger on the quarterback situation that red shirt junior Stephen Garcia finds himself in. Garcia is the SEC’s active leader in total yards and finished second in the league in passing last season behind Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet. He threw for 17 touchdowns and ran for four more, while throwing just 10 interceptions. He is the SEC East’s only returning starting QB and, heading in to spring practice, most Carolina fans figured Garcia had the starting job locked up. But with a strong spring from true freshmen Connor Shaw, and head coach Steve Spurrier’s continued criticism of Garcia, the question of who will line up under center for the Gamecocks on Sept. 2 against SMU is still lingering around Columbia. If Garcia comes out and plays like the quarterback he’s capable of being he should surpass lass year’s passing yardage of 2800 plus yards and become just the third Gamecock quarterback of all time throw 20 or more touchdowns in a season. If Garcia takes a few nights off from Five Points and puts some time in during film sessions he could be one of the top quarterbacks in the country. If Garcia could cut his sack total in half and shave off just a few of his interceptions from last season he could lead the team to its first ever SEC championship game appearance. But a team competing for a conference title shouldn’t have an IF at the quarterback position, and that’s why Garcia remains in Spurrier’s doghouse and that’s why I can’t tell if he’ll be a strength or a weakness for the 2010 South Carolina Gamecocks.