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Georgia Football 2018 Preview: South Carolina Gamecocks

By Alistair Penny

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 1: Quarterback Jake Bentley #19 of the South Carolina Gamecocks hands off to running back A.J. Turner #25 during the first quarter of the Outback Bowl NCAA college football game against the Michigan Wolverines on January 1, 2018 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 1: Quarterback Jake Bentley #19 of the South Carolina Gamecocks hands off to running back A.J. Turner #25 during the first quarter of the Outback Bowl NCAA college football game against the Michigan Wolverines on January 1, 2018 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images /

How does 2018 stack up:

This is a pivotal year for the Gamecocks. Jake Bentley got plenty of hype going into 2017 and will be a Junior this year. South Carolina fans are kind of caught between a rock and a hard place with Bentley. For the team to have a better season, he’s going to have to really elevate his level of play. But if he does, the Gamecocks could lose their young star to the NFL a year early.

Bentley will have a new offensive coordinator after Muschamp fired Kurt Roper after last years regular season. He handed the reigns for former Bulldog Bryan McClendon. He has promised to make SC a more fast tempo offense and that could be dangerous.

They should have a defensive unit that can help them out to. Last year, they held UGA to 24 points, which considering how the Dawgs blew out pretty much everyone else was impressive. Last year this unit was 5th in the SEC, a very respectable ranking for a team like the Gamecocks.

The challenge however is the schedule. Yes they get Georgia at home and early in the season, but that could still leave them 1-1 to start the year. They also travel to Ole Miss and Florida this year and both of those programs should be much improved. Playing away at Vanderbilt and Kentucky in back to back week also won’t be easy. Both of those programs will have the SC game circled as a winnable game and will push for an upset.

In short, this is a difficult year for Will Muschamp. His team took steps last year and fans are expecting another leap. Anything less than a 10 win year will be seen as a lost season to Gamecok fans, but getting to 8 wins may not be very easy.

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