Gamecocks fans could be in for a once in a (more than) lifetime season

For 12 decades the University of South Carolina has fielded a football team. For the majority of those years, the Gamecocks were nothing more than mediocre.

Sure, the ’69 ACC championship team gave fans a reason to think they could be headed toward bigger and better things. After that, though, Joe Morrison’s tenure and the unforgettable ’84 season were the high water marks for the program until recently.

Between ’89 and ’05, USC fans saw some consistently average football with a few terrible seasons peppered in here and there.

Then Steve Orr Spurrier took over. The Head Ball Coach is already SC’s winningest football coach and he just led the Gamecocks to their first ever 11 win season, which came after a nine win season and the team’s first ever SEC Championship appearance.

This season, the Garnet and Black will start off in the top 10. They’ve been picked by many to win the SEC East for the second time in three years, and some outlets list them as a dark-horse national championship contender.

Running back Marcus Lattimore told the media his knee is 100 percent healthy after the team’s first practice this week.

Connor Shaw looks like the quarterback Spurrier has never had in Columbia.

The defensive line is one of the nation’s best, anchored by ends Devin Taylor and former No. 1 recruit, Jadeveon Clowney.

The only questions this team faces are on the outside offensively and the back end defensively. Inexperience in parts of the secondary and receiving corps could be USC’s Achilles Heel, but that defensive line and a (zone-read) play action pass attack should mask those weaknesses.

Almost all the experts agree that anything less than a 10-2 season would be a bad year for Carolina. Less than a decade ago it wouldn’t be all that surprising if USC missed out on the post season.

The Gamecocks have closed the gap in recruiting, and it’s starting to show on the field.

This year that gap could shut completely.

Carolina could win the SEC championship this year, and the SEC champion will be going to the national championship in January.

Until last season talking like this would be considered madness.

This year, Gamecocks fans could in be for something special. Once-in-a-lifetime special.