South Carolina Gamecocks Football Countdown: 8 Days

Our countdown to the 2014 college football season continues as just 8 days separate us from kickoff between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies at Williams-Brice Stadium on August 28.

Who Wears #8: Shamier Jeffery (WR) and Kaiwan Lewis (LB)
A couple of players that should have a direct impact on the team in 2014 are the basis of our countdown today. First, a look at Jeffery. Shamier may be buried on the depth chart, but that doesn’t mean he won’t figure into the team’s offensive plans this year. While he only hauled in six passes last year, he’ll reportedly see at least some action on the 28th against A&M.

Lewis, projected as one of the starting LBs in Week One, comes off a 54-tackle season a year prior. Being the oldest eligibility-wise among the scholarship LBs doesn’t mean that there’s a drop-off from the first and second string; the linebacker position, which we’ve talked about here before, is arguably the deepest on the team, so there will be times where you’ll see several personnel switched in and out of those “Mike” and “Spur” slot. You could make the point that there’s not really a “first” and “second” string here.

Gamecocks football in 1908
Record: 3-5-1
Coach: Christie Benet
The Gamecocks were held to just a trio of wins: against The Citadel, the Charleston Navy Yard, and Clemson. This was a year after the reinstatement of the football team, by the way, the story of which we’ll get into later in the week.