The South Carolina football program enters the 2023 season with its highest expectations in years. With the exception of one Will Muschamp offseason (after the 2017 season, heading into the 2018 campaign), the Gamecocks have not had an offseason with many positive expectations since the Steve Spurrier era in Columbia.
The Gamecocks finished 2022 ranked in the top-25 of most polls as they finished the year with 8 wins, including back-to-back top-10 victories to close the regular season. Despite significant losses in the transfer portal (starters MarShawn Lloyd, Jaheim Bell, Jordan Burch, etc.), Carolina returns enough to be ranked toward the back end of the top-25 in many preseason polls from sources like Athlon Sports, CBS, Sporting News, and 247Sports.
The trend continued on Monday as College Football News ranked South Carolina football 24th in the country with just over a month remaining on the calendar before toe meets leather to kick off another college football season. The outlet was very high on the Gamecocks at the end of last season, ranking USC 12th nationally after the strong finish to the year.
If South Carolina football can figure out the run game (both moving the ball on the ground on offense and stopping other teams from doing so while on defense), that ranking will be too low.
The Gamecocks return one of the top passing attacks in the SEC as quarterback Spencer Rattler returns along with top target Juice Wells and several intriguing playmakers who could be viewed as breakout candidates in receiver Xavier Legette, transfer tight end Trey Knox, or all-purpose weapon Dakereon Joyner. Insert 5-star Olympic-caliber sprinter Nyck Harbor, and the Gamecock offense could be dangerous if things go well for new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.
On defense, Carolina returns a lot of contributors from a season ago but will need some fresh faces to step up at EDGE and cornerback. Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray is one of the best in the country, and defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Sterling Lucas is viewed as a rising star in the profession, so Gamecock fans are confident they will have their units ready.
One of the biggest fears many national outlets have had with ranking the Gamecocks higher is their strength of schedule. Based on 2022 schedules, South Carolina football plays the hardest schedule in the nation in 2023, so many analysts have theorized that a good Gamecock squad could still be knocked off 5 or 6 times just because of the murderer’s row of a schedule.
A neutral site game against North Carolina (with College GameDay in attendance), road games @ Georgia, @ Tennessee, @ Missouri, and @ Texas A&M, and home contests with Clemson, Kentucky, Florida, and Mississippi State make up 3/4 of the Gamecocks’ regular season schedule, so the trepidation is understandable.
However, the time is now for Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks to make a move in the SEC. After the solid finish in 2022 moved South Carolina football into the top-3 in the SEC East, anything short of that mark in 2023 would be deemed somewhat of a failure.
Gamecock Nation should view those expectations as a good thing. Only good teams and good programs are treated in that way, and with another solid season, South Carolina football will find itself firmly in that type of consideration.
For some of the best fans in the entire country, it has been far too long since the Gamecocks have been thought of as a consistently good program, but 2023 has the chance to be a big step toward Carolina recapturing that reputation.