With Gamecock football less than a week, let’s continue the roundtable discussion. This time we sat down with Adam of Life of a Gamecock.
Adam is a friend of this blog and actually a fraternity brother. I encourage everyone when not reading this Gamecocks blog to check his out HERE.
Now here is the questions we offered and his responses as part of our Gamecocks Blog Roundtable –
1. What are your expectations for Connor Shaw this year?
My expectations for Connor Shaw in 2011 is to be a bit more involved in the offense than he was in 2010. Make no mistake about it….Stephen Garcia is your starter. But Connor Shaw has proven he can run this offense and Spurrier has already said he will play in the season opener with Garcia. Shaw and Ellington are both two guys who could run the “Wildcat” offense and if Spurrier truly uses that formation on a weekly basis, it wouldn’t surprise me at all for Shaw to run a series or two every game.
I also think a lot of Shaw’s playing time will be dictated by what Stephen Garcia does on the field. There were times last year when Garcia was on a roll like the Alabama game. No reason to get another QB involved and hurt the rhythm of that offense. We also saw Shaw at the end of the Auburn game with a chance to win it twice when Stephen Garcia had some mental errors in that football game. So a lot of his time on the field will come from how well Garcia is doing but I expect Shaw to see the field a bit more than last year. Spurrier finally has two capable QB’s in his tenure at USC and that’s a good thing.
2. Name one player that in the SEC that you wish the Gamecocks had on their team in 2011.
This is a tough question. There are few weaknesses on this Carolina team for the first time in Steve Spurrier’s tenure. We’ve built up a lot of depth and talent and some of those skill positions. However there is one guy that comes to mind that would fill a role in our most needed area on the team and that’s Alabama’s safety Mark Barron. We all know our lack of experience at the safety positions this year and Mark Barron would add immediate value to this team.
Barron is a two time All-SEC first team selection. He was a first team All-American last year with 75 total tackles and 3 interceptions. He’s got the total package at safety with speed, size, and ability to do it all. He’s great against the run but great in pass defense as well. I think he’s a leader on that Alabama team and I would love to have that kind of talent in the secondary with Stephon Gilmore, DJ Swearinger, Antonio Allen, and DeVonte Holloman.
3. Which road game this season scares you the most?
The easiest answer to this question is Georgia. It’s the first SEC game for USC and is usually a big indication on what type of season they’ll have with a win or a loss. However I’m leaning towards a surprise road game and that’s at Tennessee. This game is sandwiched in-between two SEC road games against top 25 opponents in Mississippi State and Arkansas. It’s quite an impressive atmosphere at Knoxville and I think the Vols will be improved in 2011. Tyler Bray came alive in the second half against USC in 2010 and they have some playmaking threats in receivers Da’Rick Rodgers and Justin Hunter. Taureen Poole at running back is a breakaway threat as well. The Vols defense should be improved on the line with the addition of JUCO lineman Maurice Couch although they just dismissed Janzen Jackson from the team. If the USC secondary doesn’t improve from 2010, a passing attack like Tennessee’s could take advantage and give USC a run for it’s money.
Arkansas was another candidate as well but Tennessee definitely gives me a scare.
4. Go on the record – Give the prediction for USC as far as wins and losses in 2011.
We obviously expect USC to have a better season than 2010 and the Gamecocks finished 9-5. Improvement on last year would mean at least 10 wins and this schedule gives them a chance to do so. However I’ll do one better and predict 11-1 in the regular season. There are close calls on this schedule like UGA, Mississippi State, and Arkansas and I think the Gamecocks will falter against the Razorbacks. This will be the third straight SEC road game for the Gamecocks and the only team in the SEC to have this stretch on their schedule. The Razorbacks have 4 of the best wide receivers in the SEC and Tyler Wilson looks ready to step in for Ryan Mallett at quarterback. Defense should be much improved from last year.
The Gamecocks seem to struggle in Fayetteville and it’s pretty hard to go unscathed in the SEC. This would definitely be enough for USC to win the SEC East however and make it back to the SEC Championship. It’s likely the Gamecocks are in the national championship talks at this point and the sky could be the limit for the Gamecocks. This should be an outstanding year for South Carolina.
5. For fun…..If you could nickname Spurrier’s visor – what would it be?
It’s got to be nicknamed “Chuck.” We haven’t seen it tossed in his USC days as much as his Florida days but when Stephen Garcia has his Stephen Garcia moment at some point this season, expect to see “Chuck” get chucked!
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Thanks again to Adam for his insight on this upcoming season. Make sure you check on the other part of our roundtable with Gamecock Man of GABA HERE.
