South Carolina Football 2010: A Season To Remember, but a Teaser for 2011

South Carolina's football team in 2010 had a special year, no matter how anyone tries to spin it.  At 9-4 (losing to one team twice), they sat on top of the SEC East for the first time.  

There is no doubt who the best team in the SEC was...Auburn man-handled South Carolina.  That team is superior to almost every team...thanks to a one-man wrecking crew named Cam Newton and a good supporting cast. 

He is potentially the best athlete I have ever seen.  That does not take away from what South Carolina accomplished this season. 

You may say, well, the East is down.  So what?  Other than an implosion at Kentucky after losing their top two playmakers, no team was even close to being competitive to South Carolina in the East. 

This could happen for years to come.  Georgia and Tennessee will be better next year.  Florida will be down.  Kentucky and Vanderbilt will be even more down than usual. 

This year is just a primer for what is to come. 

For whatever reason, there is a misconception that South Carolina is a senior-laden team that got by on experience. 

Whoa.  Not even close.  South Carolina has one of the younger two deeps in the SEC.  There are only 17 seniors on the entire team. 

There are some notable losses.  Spencer Lanning, Cliff Matthews, Pat DiMarco and Ladi Ajiboye are the only big-time starters that are leaving.  Some great role players are leaving in Tony Straughter, Garrett Chisolm and Chris Culliver.  However, the youth behind them is great. 

Not to mention, all of the players who were named to the All-SEC team will be back. Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore and Devin Taylor will be juniors, and Marcus Lattimore will be a sophomore.

Stephen Garcia will be a senior.  Tori Gurley will be a junior.  Ace Sanders, a sophomore.  The list goes on and on. 

Then there are some fantastic players from last year's recruiting class who will be coming off red-shirt or coming from a year spent in prep schools.  The most notable are cornerback Victor Hampton, an Army All-American, and Kelcy Quarrels, whose prep school coach said was a man-beast at defensive line.  He also said that SEC teams better be prepared to double him on every play. 

This year's recruiting class also has some zing.  Currently ranked 16th on rivals.com, there are some major players on this list. 

Highlights include Damiere Byrd, a 4-star wide receiver who has been clocked at a 4.2 in the shuttle.  His Rivals rating is "as good as it gets" on speed.  Brandon Shell, a highly sought after offensive lineman, Brison Williams, who was considered a shut down corner in prep school, and Shamir Jeffery, the brother of Alshon Jeffery, who has been described as a faster version of Alshon.

Add the potential signing of Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 prospect in the country and a couple of other big name recruits who have the Gameocks high on the list, and you could be looking at a top five recruiting class. 

Then there is the schedule.

Sat. 09/03/11 East Carolina *in Charlotte
Sat. 09/10/11 at Georgia  
Sat. 09/17/11 Navy      
Sat. 09/24/11 Vanderbilt  
Sat. 10/01/11 Auburn      
Sat. 10/08/11 Kentucky      
Sat. 10/15/11 at Mississippi State      
Sat. 10/22/11 Open Date   —-  —-
Sat. 10/29/11 at Tennessee      
Sat. 11/05/11 at Arkansas  
Sat. 11/12/11 Florida      
Sat. 11/19/11 The Citadel      
Sat. 11/26/11 Clemson  
Sat. 12/03/11 SEC Championship

The toughest games on that schedule are at Georgia, at Mississippi State, and at Arkansas. 

You have a Cam Newton-less Auburn at home, a Myer-less Florida at home and Clemson at home. 

In all honestly, the game at Georgia will be the toughest of the season.  Mississippi State had a good year, but there is no telling how good they may be next year.  Arkansas will be without Ryan Mallett, so their success is up in the air as well. 

10-2 or 11-1 is not out of the question for the returning talent on this team. 

They will be favored to win the East again, no questions about that.  Georgia will be very good next year, and the likely team to battle for the crown.  Florida and Tennessee could make noise as well, depending on how their offseasons go.

However, like it or not, SEC fans, this South Carolina team is built for longevity.  They are not a flash in the pan team; you can look at the roster and tell.  The days of Carolina as an as-run is over. 

People will look back at 2010 and Steve Spurrier and say that this was the year they turned it all around.