South Carolina football: Saturday Down South season projection

Saturday Down South gives its prediction on the South Carolina football season.

South Carolina is entering its fifth season under the guidance of head coach Will Muschamp as they look to turn around the trajectory of the program and improve from last year’s disappointing 4-8 outcome. Over his first four seasons at the helm, Muschamp has posted a 26-25 (15-17) record, finishing anywhere from second to fifth in the SEC Eastern division standings.

Muschamp shuffled the staff a bit following the 2019 season, demoting offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon, and bringing on Mike Bobo to jumpstart a unit that finished the year 104th nationally in scoring.

The Gamecocks not only introduce a new playcaller, but they’ll also have a new face under center. Graduate student Collin Hill, a transfer from Colorado State, beat out incumbent Ryan Hilinski in the offseason battle at the quarterback position. The former Ram threw for over 3,300 yards in three injury-riddled seasons in Fort Collins. Mike Bobo was Hill’s head coach each of the last three years.

The defense should be the strength of the team, with four players recently being named to the SEC’s preseason all-conference team. Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu headline what should be a talented Carolina secondary, while team leader Ernest Jones is back at middle linebacker.

With the first game creeping closer, season projections are beginning to pop up. Saturday Down South, a prominent site focused on SEC football, recently released its preview into the South Carolina football slate. It projects the Gamecocks to go 3-7, with wins over Ole Miss, Missouri, and Vanderbilt.

Here’s what SDS had to say about each of South Carolina football’s ten matchups.

"Game-by-game predictionsWeek 1: vs. Tennessee (L)Will this be close? Absolutely. Is there a chance that the Gamecocks could start the year by handing Jeremy Pruitt another season-opening loss? I wouldn’t doubt it. But I worry about that South Carolina offense against Pruitt’s defense. I think that group, which definitely has some key pieces to replace, is still in good shape to be one of the country’s better defenses after last year’s turnaround. It wouldn’t surprise me if both teams struggled to score and this was a “first to 20” situation. I’ll bet on Eric Gray and the Vols to get there.Week 2: at Florida (L)Welcome to 2020, where your new-look offense gets to face Pruitt and Todd Grantham in the first 2 weeks of the season. Have fun! The Gators are loaded with talented young edge-rushers who are ready to fill those voids left by Jon Greenard and Jabari Zuniga. Florida’s pass rush forces multiple interceptions and South Carolina falls to 0-2.Week 3: at Vanderbilt (W)Hey, now. A win in Nashville should certainly be in the cards. A Vandy quarterback room that’s entirely new will see a veteran secondary that’ll give it all sorts of problems. Even if this isn’t a big offensive day from Hill, I’d still expect perhaps a defensive touchdown or a special teams score to allow South Carolina to get some early breathing room to cruise to an easy win on the road.Week 4: vs. Auburn (L)Ah, that battle of the teams that brag about having the toughest schedule annually. An atypical matchup against each other should be at least somewhat interesting. I think the Gamecocks should hold up in the trenches better than some realize. But do I trust Hill to outsmart Kevin Steele’s defense? No. It wouldn’t surprise me if Roger McCreary picked off multiple Hill passes and really proved to be the difference in this one.Week 5: at LSU (L)I get that LSU lost a ton of production, but let’s not get too cute with this. The Tigers might be inexperienced with just 6 starters back, but by Week 5, I don’t expect youth to be an excuse. Myles Brennan still has plenty of weapons even without Ja’Marr Chase, and South Carolina is going to have to find ways to move the ball downfield against a secondary with Derek Stingley and JaCoby Stevens. In other words, I’m not holding my breath on Muschamp pulling off an upset in his old stomping grounds.Week 6: ByeWeek 7: vs. Texas A&M (L)This is the type of team that South Carolina could potentially catch at the right time. Coming off the bye week and with players possibly hitting the bye week and opting out or running into depth issues because of quarantine, perhaps the Gamecocks can hang around longer than some expect. Muschamp certainly knows Jimbo Fisher well. That’ll make this game a bit closer than some expect, but a late Jaden Wydermyer score will give A&M a nail-biter victory.Week 8: at Ole Miss (W)What do I have more faith in happening by Week 8 — Ole Miss’ defense figuring it out or South Carolina’s offense finding its identity? I’ll go with the latter. I’ll take those odds of happening whether it’s Hilinski or Hill starting at quarterback. This is a very winnable game for the Gamecocks, and that urgency will be there if a 1-6 start happens. A back-and-forth game winds up going in favor of South Carolina thanks to a timely late interception from Horn.Week 9: vs. Mizzou (W)A winning streak? Sure. Mizzou is a major mystery team because on one hand, you have a defense that was No. 16 in the country last year and returns legitimate All-SEC talent at every level. On the other hand, the guy who led that team is gone and the new coach has pretty significant turnover on offense. Eli Drinkwitz’s offense vs. Muschamp’s defense could be a better-than-advertised matchup. Another down-to-the-wire game goes in favor of South Carolina, but this time, it’s thanks to a Shi Smith touchdown grab.Week 10: vs. Georgia (L)Do you think Georgia is going to overlook this one after the way things went last year? I don’t. And an overhauled offense shouldn’t struggle so much like it did last year when Mukuamu stole Georgia’s lunch money and bought Sloppy Joes for the entire state of South Carolina.Revenge game? Yep. That Georgia defense will take it personally, and I think this ends up being something like a 28-3 Georgia win.Week 11: at Kentucky (L)I’m the person who referenced Kentucky’s 5-year winning streak against South Carolina. To the Gamecocks’ credit, they ended that last season. Check one thing off the list. Granted, that was against a Kentucky team that had Sawyer Smith at quarterback. He’s not Terry Wilson, and now that the Wildcats have their offensive identity as a power running team that can still stretch the field when it needs to, I expect to see Kentucky start a new streak. That’d be just a brutal way for Muschamp to end the regular season.2020 projection: 3-7, 5th in East"

The projections fall in line with most media projections. FanSided also had the Gamecocks finishing 3-7, with the season ending with Muschamp’s firing. South Carolina will likely be favored in just two to three games throughout the year, meaning the season could be an uphill battle. The schedule currently ranks fourth-most difficult in the nation, according to Phil Steele.

The beginning of the schedule is particularly tough, with the Gamecocks having to face off against five ranked foes in the its first six games. Four of those opponents are ranked among the nation’s top 15 teams. A slow start could prove detrimental to the success of the South Carolina season.

The Gamecocks open the year this Saturday when they welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Columbia for a primetime matchup. South Carolina will look to pull the upset as the team enters the contest as a three-point underdog.