The excitement within the state of
South Carolina for this upcoming college football season could not be any higher
with both ball clubs coming off of 11-win seasons, we’re talking about the
South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers.
Each ball club has a superstar with
South Carolina’s being JaDaveon Clowney, who will likely be the number one
overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and Tahj Boyd Clemson’s star quarterback
and last season’s ACC Player of the Year.
South Carolina or Clemson?
Who is the better team in the state
of South Carolina?
If you base your decision on the previous four
meetings between the two teams you would say South Carolina, but Clemson fans
will argue there will be a turn in the tide, and that change will occur this
season.
USA Today’s Sports Coaches Poll
ranked both teams in the top-10 with the Gamecocks being ranked seventh,
followed by the Tigers being ranked eighth.
The Associated Press also ranked
both teams in their top-10, with the Gamecocks being ranked sixth, and the
Tigers being ranked eighth.
Fans within the state believe their
respective team has a shot at playing in the national championship game,
believing they have answered the questions that naysayers have placed above
them.
The Gamecocks will never take that
“next step” until Steve Spurrier can find a quarterback.
Who’s the Gamecocks answer at
quarterback?
Gamecock fans reply with the name Connor Shaw
a dual-threat quarterback that threw for 1,956 yards and 17 touchdowns last
season.
How can Dabo Swinney make a push
for a national championship when he seems to never be able to win the “big
game”?
Clemson fans reply with December
31, 2012 when Swinney coached his Tigers to a Chick-fila-A Bowl victory over
the LSU Tigers who were ranked eighth in the country at the time.
As all of the positives have been
presented there are also some negatives that each ball club will attempt to
overcome.
The Gamecocks lose star running
back Marcus Lattimore to the NFL, who carried the load on the offensive last
season. There also will be some holes to fill on the defensive side of the
ball, the Gamecocks only return five starters to an 11-man starting defensive
unit.
For the Clemson Tigers, they lose
running back Andre Ellington and leading receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the NFL,
in combination with a defensive unit that wasn't great last season, but returns
seven starters.
The stakes have been set, the bar
has been raised, and the headlines have never reign brighter, leaving us with
one question.
Who will win the battle of South
Carolina the Gamecocks or Tigers?
Justin Tyree
ESPN 730 Charlotte Bobcats Insider and College Football Blogger
Twitter: @JTyree704
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SportsFromMyEyes
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