The Head Ball Coach and his Gamecocks kicked off fall practice this week, and he’s been chirpin’ all summer long. When Steve Spurrier is running his mouth, you know he thinks he’s got a good team on his hands.
And what a better way to start Garnet and Cocky’s “22 positions in 22 days” series than with the offensive line. The most underrated unit in football. The group that will, in large part, decide whether the Gamecocks are a national championship contender, or a team fighting to make a top-tier bowl game.
In the past South Carolina’s offense line was its biggest question mark. Now it may not necessarily be considered one of the team’s biggest strengths, but it’s certainly not a weakness.
The line will be anchored by red-shirt senior, 40 game starter, third team All-SEC center T.J. Johnson. He’s got great chemistry with QB Connor Shaw, and he’s one hell of a tough matchup for defenders.
Johnson will (probably) be surrounded by left guard A.J. Cann and right guard Ronald Patrick.
Patrick saw very limited time as a freshman, but played in nine of 13 games last season. He’s 6’2″ 304 lbs and was listed a three-star recruit out of Florida by Rivals.com in 2010. Caleb Broome is listed as the backup at right guard, and he’ll certainly see the field this year.
Cann is a redshirt freshman who played well enough in his first year to earn freshman All-SEC honors as well as freshman All-American honors from multiple outlets. Cann will be a force next to Johnson, and he could find himself on plenty of post season All-SEC lists by the end of the year.
Listed as the starters on the outside are left tackle Brandon Shell and right tackle Mike Matulis.
Shell is a 6’6″ 330 lb redshirt freshman. He was a huge pickup on signing day in 2010 as a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com. Shell would have played in his true freshman year if it weren’t for a shoulder injury that nagged him for the entire season.
Matulis is a 6’5″ 274 pound sophomore. He started five games last season, but missed spring practice because of shoulder surgery. His backup, Cody Gibson, has the potential to take over the starting spot. Even if he doesn’t, though, Gibson will definitely see a lot of playing time in 2012. He started four games as a red-shirt freshman.
Last year, Connor Shaw and Stephen Garcia were sacked 29 times. It seems like a high number, but in the past, the sack total was much worse. This season , if they can keep that number around 20 the offensive line will have done a very good job.
In that same season, Marcus Lattimore rushed for five yards per carry and Brandon Wilds rushed for 4.5. The zone blocking scheme Carolina runs has transformed the team, and made it much easier for the backs to find holes and do damage.
All in all, this a line led by a senior center with 40 starts under his belt and anchored by two big bodied young guns on the left side of the line. There’s some inexperience, sure, but O-Line coaching stability will mask that problem and the entire unit should, at the bare minimum, play well enough to not be considered a weakness in 2012.