South Carolina Fans Should Brace Themselves for Another Rough Season

New head coach Shane Beamer has his work cut out for him in South Carolina, as the Gamecocks are projected to have another rough season in the SEC.

After starting the 2020 campaign with a 2-2 record, South Carolina ended the season losing six straight games which resulted in the firing of coach Will Muschamp.

WynnBET has win totals set for most of the schools across the country, and they have South Carolina’s set at 3.5 for the 2021 season. With the SEC returning to a normal 12-game schedule this year, that means a 3-9 or 4-8 season is in store for the Gamecocks if the projection proves accurate.

Luke Doty and Colten Gauthier will battle it out for the starting QB role, but neither has proven themselves at the Division I level.

South Carolina also lost their leading receiver Shi Smith, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 6th round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

The only good news for the Gamecocks offensively, is that four of their five starting offensive linemen from last season will return this year.

South Carolina will also need to improve on defense, as they gave up an average of 451.5 yards on defense in 2020, which ranked 101st in the country. They also gave up 36 points per game, which ranked 104th among all teams. They’ll need new stars to emerge on that side of the ball as their best defensive player, Jaycee Horn, was selected eighth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

WynnBET has given South Carolina the third-longest odds to win the SEC at +3000. Only Vanderbilt (+4000), and Arkansas (+7500), have longer odds than the Gamecocks.

If there’s one thing that could help South Carolina hit the over on their win total this year, they're in the weaker of the two SEC divisions. As a result of that, they don’t need to face powerhouse Alabama this season.