South Carolina finished 2022 with an impressive 8-5 record. This included wins over Tennessee and Clemson to close the regular season before narrowly losing to Notre Dame in their bowl game. This year, sportsbooks seem to expect a slight step back. FanDuel Sportsbook currently gives South Carolina a 6.5-win total juiced to -144 on the under. FanDuel also pegs South Carolina with +9500 odds to win the SEC, which ranks only ahead of Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Kentucky. With that said, let’s dive into some 2023 South Carolina football predictions, overview and more.
South Carolina Football Predictions, Futures & Roster Overview
From a coaching perspective, South Carolina returns Shane Beamer in hopes of continuing their positive momentum. Beamer sits at 15-11 in his South Carolina tenure, exceeding expectations to this point. On offense, he brought in Dowell Loggains as coordinator. Loggains most recently coached tight ends for Arkansas, but he has offensive coordinator experience at all levels of football. Clayton White returns for his third season at defensive coordinator alongside Beamer.
South Carolina Football Offense
At quarterback, Spencer Rattler returns as the starter for South Carolina. Last year, he completed 264 of his 404 pass attempts (65.3%) for 3,032 yards (7.5 YPA), 18 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Rattler didn’t display much mobility, accounting for just 46 yards on 73 attempts. Overall, he was the 11th graded quarterback in the SEC, per PFF. The South Carolina offense has reportedly simplified, which could help Rattler take another step forward as he looks to improve his NFL Draft stock. Behind him, backup Luke Doty also returns after 14 pass attempts last year. Doty started some games in 2021, posting a moderate 60.1% completion percentage on 143 passes for 975 yards (6.6 YPA), five touchdowns, and three interceptions. South Carolina also recruited four-star freshman LaNorris Sellers, who comes in as the 248th ranked recruit in this class. All of this bodes well for the Gamecocks ahead of 2023.
South Carolina lost three of their top four rushers in Marshawn Lloyd, Jaheim Bell, and Christian Beal-Smith. With that said, the position was decimated by injury last year, allowing many players to receive carries. Juju McDowell returns after carrying 62 times for 213 yards and a pair of scores. McDowell also caught 24 balls for another 205 yards without a drop. However, he stands just 5-9, 180 pounds and may be suited to third downs. McDowell was relatively inefficient on the ground last year, averaging 2.55 yards after contact and a forced missed tackle on 22.6% of his attempts. To compliment him, South Carolina added Mario Anderson from Newberry College. Anderson is 5-9, 208 pounds and rushed for 3,301 yards in three seasons there. The Gamecocks still has 2022 four-star Lovasea Carroll and incoming four-star Dontavius Braswell as well. Carroll was the 141st ranked player last year and Braswell ranks 247th this year. The team moved Dakereon Joyner to running back to help with depth. He served as a jack-of-all-trades for five seasons to this point. Joyner is 6-1, 215 pounds and should be able to handle the pounding of the running back position. This position comes with a few unknowns, but solid recruiting should keep the run game in a good spot.
At receiver, South Carolina returns a pure stud in Antwane Wells. Wells stands 6-1, 207 pounds and caught 69 balls for 941 yards and six scores last year. He played in the slot 38.3% of the time and his 2.48 yards per route ranked fifth in the SEC. Behind him, their next four receivers depart – Jalen Brooks, Josh Vann, Jaheim Bell (tight end), Austin Stogner (tight end). This leaves Ahmarean Brown as the next most experienced receiver. Brown stands 5-9, 167 pounds and caught 23 balls for 185 yards last year. He played in the slot 81.3% of the time and his 0.67 yards per route ranked 68th (second-worst) in the SEC last year. The team also returns Xavier Leggette, who caught 18 balls for 167 yards last year. Legette is 6-3, 220 pounds and played in the slot 29.9% of the time. He averaged 1.12 yards per route. Neither have shown much, which presents a problem. South Carolina did address receiver in the portal by bringing in Memphis transfer Eddie Lewis. Lewis is 5-11, 192 pounds and caught 43 balls for 611 yards and seven scores last year. He played in the slot 30.3% of the time and his 1.62 yards per route ranked 29th. It is also possible that South Carolina relies heavily upon five-star freshman Nyckoles Harbor. Harbor is the 19th player in this class and figures to play early.
Mentioned above, South Carolina lost their top three tight ends last year. On top of Bell and Stogner, Nate Adkins also left. To address the vacancies, South Carolina added three tight ends in the portal. Trey Knox comes over from Arkansas. At 6-5, 233 pounds, the former wide receiver caught 26 balls for 295 yards and five scores last year with 1.00 yards per route. He also blocked on 57.5% of his snaps. Nick Elksnis comes in from Florida after just 25 snaps in two years with the Gators. Finally, Joshua Simon comes in from Western Kentucky. Simon stands 6-4, 235 pounds and started for three of his four seasons with Western Kentucky. Last year, he blocked on 53.3% of his 347 snaps, but he also caught 20 passes for 277 yards and seven scores with a strong 1.81 yards per route.
Along the offensive line, South Carolina lost right guard Jovaughn Gwyn, center Eric Douglas, and right tackle Dylan Wonnum. This leaves the left side intact starting with left tackle Jaylen Nichols. Nichols played 605 snaps last year. They also return Jakai Moore, who split time between left tackle and left guard. Moore ended up playing 496 snaps and finished the year at left guard. He should be the favorite to hold down this position to start 2023. At center, South Carolina added Yale transfer Nick Gargiulo. Gargiulo has started for three seasons now with strong numbers at a lower level of competition. The jump to the SEC remains the biggest question.
Their other guard position could be Trai Jones, Vershon Lee, freshman Markee Anderson, or Tyshawn Wannamaker. Jones played 214 snaps mostly coming at left guard last year. However, this projection would put him on the other side. Lee also played a lot of left guard last year. He played 414 snaps to be exact. Anderson is an incoming four-star recruit and 155th ranked player in this class. Wannamaker only enters the guard position if Cason Henry wins the right tackle job. Henry is still recovering from surgery, so that remains to be seen. He played 34 snaps last year, but all of those came in two games. Wannamaker played 217 snaps last year, which mostly came at right tackle. However, he projects a little better at guard. South Carolina also added Western Illinois transfer Sidney Fugar and Mercer transfer Ni Mansell. Ultimately, a lot of players have a bit of experience, but the exact starting unit has yet to shake itself out. This offensive line was pretty good last year, so a slight step back wouldn’t be surprising.
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South Carolina Football Defense
On defense, South Carolina ranked 109th in 2022. This included the 121st-ranked run defense, 26th-ranked pass rush and 106th-ranked pass coverage. South Carolina loses multiple premier starters on defense, including a pair of NFL Draft picks at corner. However, so many players dealt with injury that a number of returns actually played quality snaps last year. South Carolina did add six four-star freshman, some of whom could contribute early this year.
On the defensive line Jordan Burch, Bilber Edmond, and Zacch Pickens all depart. The interior should be a little deeper than the edge group with Tonka Hemingway, Alex Huntley, TJ Sanders, and Nick Barrett all playing at least 150 snaps last year. Hemingway highlights the group with 505 snaps and four sacks, which led the team. On the edge, Tyreek Johnson and Jordan Strachan project to start, but neither played more than 281 snaps. Strachan tore his ACL and likely would have played a much larger role, if healthy. South Carolina did add Syracuse transfer Jatius Greer along the edge to bolster this relatively inexperienced group.
At linebacker, both Sherrod Greene and Brad Johnson depart. Fortunately, they get back Mohamed Kaba from injury as well. Like Strachan, Kaba expected to play a much larger role before a torn ACL derailed his season. The other starting linebacker isn’t as clear. Deebo Williams returns 306 snaps, but rumors continue to circulate that freshman Grayson Howard could contribute here. Howard is an incoming four-star and the 183rd ranked player in this class.
The secondary showed major vulnerabilities last year, despite having Darius Rush and Cam Smith drafted with decent draft capital. Much of the problems stemmed from injury. However, Marcellas Dial returns at corner after 728 snaps. Dial led the team with 12 pass breakups and should hold down one corner spot. O’Donnell Fortune remains the favorite to start opposite Dial after injury forced him into action for 269 snaps. While he played limited snaps, Fortune finished with two interceptions and showed solid coverage skills.
The favorite for the nickel position should be David Spaulding after an injury limited him to just 149 snaps last year. At safety, both Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith return over 795 snaps. Both had their struggles at times, but Emmanwori led the team with 85 tackles and Smith broke up five passes along with a pair of interceptions. With the experience the young players accrued last year, this unit looks unlikely to take a step back.
South Carolina Football Schedule
There’s no way around it. South Carolina perennially plays one of the more difficult schedules in the SEC East. Much of this has to do with facing Clemson in the non-conference. In addition, they face North Carolina, Furman, and Jacksonville State to round out non-conference. From the SEC West, South Carolina draws Mississippi State and Texas A&M, which could have been worse. In their own division, they draw the tough task of traveling to Georgia and Tennessee this season.
South Carolina Football Win Total Prediction: With their tough schedule, South Carolina should be a large underdog in three games this year. Given their +9500 odds to win the SEC, it looks like they will be underdogs in a few others as well. Potential pick’ems like North Carolina and Kentucky will go a long way to deciding this win total. With the attrition to the program, it is hard to see South Carolina eclipsing their 6.5 win total. For that reason, eating the juice at -144 on the under looks like the safest bet here.
