2009 College Football Preview: South Carolina Gamecocks Part 1 (Games 1-6)

Steve Spurrier enters his fifth year as coach of South Carolina. Spurrier must replace the top three playmakers on each side of the ball.

The Gamecocks finished last in the conference in rushing offense and eighth in scoring last year with 20.8 points per game.

After encouraging offensive progress during April, Spurrier left the spring game disappointed with the performance.

The Gamecocks are being delicate with redshirt sophomore Stephen Garcia, who just endured his first full spring practice after a tumultuous early career. South Carolina hired quarterbacks coach G. A. Mangus to mold Garcia into an SEC caliber quarterback.

The defense has never had problems making plays, but the losses of cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, safety Emanuel Cook, and linebacker Jasper Brinkley hurt.

Game 1 @ North Carolina State

South Carolina destroyed the wolfpack last year 34-0, this year will not be so easy.

NC State is led by Russell Wilson, who when is healthy is a deadly quarterback. The offensive line return three starters, which should be a good thing since Wilson was sacked often in 2008.

Defense will be trail and error for the Wolfpack. Five of the front seven return, which will slow down the run. That will give a revamped secondary some time to get used to their new surroundings.

Nate Irving and Ray Michael return for the Wolfpack at the linebacker position. Michael is a tackling machine and Irving will help out the secondary.

South Carolina's strength on offense is the running game and the height of its recievers. Eric Baker, Jarvis Giles, and Brian Maddox will all see time in this game which will wear out the front seven of the Wolfpack.

Jason Barnes will use his size to create opportunity's for him self and the other Gamecock recievers.

The Defense will be the key in this game for the Gamecocks. The front four of Geathers, Matthews, Ajiboye and Pepper will control the flow of this game.

Wilson will test the secondary early and often. The front four need to put pressure on him and make him a little shaky in the pocket.

Eric Norwood, this is your party. Norwood will dominate in this game giving Wilson all types of trouble. All this help from the front guys will give the secondary alot of help as they adjust to their new roles.

Final Score

South Carolina will come out on top in this matchup. Garica will have a average game but will get big plays from the running game and Barnes. NC State will struggle to stop South Carolina defense line from pressuring Wilson.

South Carolina 24 N.C. State 14

Game 2 @ Georgia

Georgia will enter the game led by Joe Cox, who gets his turn at quarterback for the Bulldogs. Talent hasn't departed Athens, even if questions abound with the departure of a combined nine starters on both sides of the ball.

Every starting offensive lineman returns in an effort to redeem last year's matador-style blocking performance, while Jeff Owens will team with Geno Atkins to form one of the most potent interior defensive lines in the country.

Cox's transition will be aided by sophomore reciever A.J. Green, one of the best in the country.

South Carolina will be relying on its inexperinced secondary to contain the explosive Green. With the defense struggling all game to stop the Gerogia offense, who will not miss a beat with the lose of Matthew Stafford or Knowshon Moreno. Stephen Garica will have to shine in this game if South Carolina has any shot.

Rennie Curran can stop the Gamecocks running attack all by himself, so Garcia will need to be able to get rid of the ball in time and be accurate for the Gamecocks to win.

Final Score

Georgia pulls this game out. The Bulldogs are too tough at home for the young Gamecocks. South Carolina will put up a good fight though Georgia pulls away late in second half.

Georgia 27 South Carolina 13

Game 3 vs. Florida Atlantic

Senior quarterback Rusty Smith will led the Owls this season. The Owls will have a very good offense but a young and inexperience defense.

South Carolina should dominate from the opening kick off. The defense of the Owls is just not up to par going against a SEC offense. The offense of FAU will do what ever the can to keep them in the game. Smith will throw so much a couple will fall to the Gamecocks.

Look for Jason Barnes to have a big day as Garcia will throw to him at least 12 times in this game.

Florida Atlantic's Josh Savidge is the Owls best defense player this season, he will give it his all but he cant stop the Gamecocks himself.

Final Score: Gamecocks win easy to the cheers of the home crowd.

South Carolina 31 Florida Atlantic 13

Game 4 Mississippi

This game comes down to defense for the Gamecocks. Jevan Snead is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Snead will lead a high octane offense against the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss' defense is stacked, returning eight starters from a team that was ranked 19th nationally.

South Carolina's offense has no chance against the Rebels defense. The only chance they have is turnovers produced by the defense.

The Gamecocks secondary is gonna have to step it up to contain Snead and the Rebels offense. Darian Stewart must have a big game for the Gamecocks.

Final Score

Rebels win easily, too much offense for the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss 31 South Carolina 10

Game 5 South Caolina State

Oct. 3 will be a blowout win for the Gamecocks. South Carolina should have no problem in this game at all.

South Carolina State will come into this game with one thing on there mind, MONEY!!!!!

Be prepared to see all the running backs of the Gamecocks to have big games.

The defense should have no problem with they FCS team.

The only real big question for this game will be can the Gamecocks shut them out.

Final Score No contest

South Carolina 41 South Carolina State 6

Game 6 vs. Kentucky

Kentucky returns a lot of players from last year's team. Three offense linemen return for the Wildcats which should help Mike Hartline or Randall Cobb at the quarterback position. If the running backs can stay healthy then the Wildcats will be okay on offense.

Kentucky's defense is going to be the key for them this year. Middle linebacker Micah Johnson is a beast in the middle and Trevard Lindley is a All-American talent.

The key matchup is South Carolina's running game versus The Wildcats defense.

The trio of backs the Gamecocks are gonna use could wear down the Cats defense.

Running the ball will open up some passing lanes for Garcia to hit his targets down field.

This will be Weslye Saunders coming out party. With the defense stopping the run and the Secondary covering the receivers look for Saunders to catch eight to nine balls for 7-9 yards gains. Saunders is trying to replace Jared Cook a tall order. This game will help his cause .

Final Score South Carolina wins a close won as Saunders is player of the game.

South Carolina 24 Kentucky 21

First Half Review

Well the first half of the season is over and the Gamecocks should be sitting at 4-2, but 1-2 in SEC play. Stephen Garcia will have a decent first half getting the knowledge and reps to lead this Gamecock team to a bowl.

The defense will be worn out come this time of the year. With so much resting are their shoulders to keep the Gamecocks in the game each and every week it will takes it toll.

Look for one of the trio of running backs to take the lead and receive most of the starting time in the second half of the season.