5 major storylines coming out of the South Carolina football team's Bye week
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football's Post-Bye Week Storylines to Watch:
Maintaining Consistency while Finding the Big Play on Special Teams
During the first two years of the Shane Beamer era in Columbia, the Gamecocks were a dominant special teams squad. South Carolina football was synonymous with excellence in the third phase of the game as they ranked near the top of college football in virtually every special teams statistic.
2023 was just above average, something that felt "bad" in comparison to the previous two years, and 2024 (so far) has been about the same.
New special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has plenty of experience coaching special teams, primarily at the NFL level. If the Gamecocks are going to win some games against higher-ranked opponents during the final two-thirds of the season, it could come down to Coach Joe D's unit stepping up to an elite level once again.
Kai Kroeger has had an excellent start to his season, and Alex Herrera has been solid as a placekicker. That can't change moving forward. However, there are a few things on special teams that will need to improve for Joe D's units to become the game-changing group fans in Columbia have come to expect.
In the return game, Juju McDowell is averaging just 17.4 yards per kickoff return (59th in the nation among 67 qualifiers), and while things feel better when the Gamecocks return punts, the scatback's numbers haven't reflected that (65th out of 75 returners at just 4.5 yards per return). That's not all on McDowell as the blocking needs to improve if Carolina wants to bust a field-flipping return or two.
USC has played four games so far this year, and they have made huge special teams plays in two of those games. Against LSU, Moe Brown blocked a bunt, and against Old Dominion, DeAndre Jules blocked a PAT. Unfortunately, the overall special teams effort in those two games was inconsistent. In the other two contests, the Gamecocks showcased special teams consistency but (outside of Kroeger's big boot) didn't have game-changing plays like blocked kicks, long returns, or successful fakes. Finding a way to be consistently good while delivering a big play or two could make the difference between a win or a loss for Shane Beamer's team against big-time opponents.