College football preview 2018: 10 unranked teams most likely to surprise

10 of 11

Photo by Todd Bennett/GettyImages /

I had another team on this slide with some legitimate arguments to be included. I was really surprised when the first AP Poll left South Carolina out of the top 25 but, I wasn’t passing on an open lay-up. South Carolina’s on this list.

The Gamecocks won nine games last season and to start, they return a solid, experienced starting quarterback in Jake Bentley and Deebo Samuel coming back gives him one of the SEC’s best receivers. Three more legit receivers, Bryan Edwards, Shi Smith and Tre Smith, coming back is also a reason to feel good about the offense this year.

The ground game isn’t quite as promising as the passing though. No one has emerged as a go-to option at running back and the offensive line has been a better pass blocking unit so far. What they have will be adequate but it would add another dynamic if someone at running back really impressed and stood out early this year.

Defensively, South Carolina was better than expected last year and actually finished as a top-25 scoring defense even with Georgia, Clemson and Missouri on the schedule. The biggest loss from 2017 was linebacker Skai Moore who led the team in tackles the last four straight seasons. T.J. Brunson is a potential All-SEC replacement coming off a sophomore season alongside Moore as the team’s second-leading tackler.

Linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams is the defense’s version of Deebo Samuel, coming back from an early injury last year. Allen was one of the best players on D in 2016 and was granted a fifth season of eligibility to come back after missing basically all of 2017,

The defensive front overall will be fine against the run, but D.J. Wonnum, Jr. was the only pass rush threat last year. He’ll need to step up again and hopefully find some help in rushing the passer to join him. In the defensive backfield, cornerback Rashad Fenton, Sr. will have to lead a couple of newcomers as a returning senior.

South Carolina’s schedule also includes the SEC East, Ole Miss, two joke non-conference games so they should clear their seven-game win total if even if they underachieve.