W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
***First of all, I'd like to send my thoughts to all in South Carolina who have been affected by the flooding in the state of South Carolina. Other than not having water, I was not affected at my house, but neighborhoods near mine were far less fortunate. Here's a link with information on volunteering or donating for those who would like to help.
-- South Carolina did not practice in a normal sense on Monday due to the severe flooding in the Midlands area, but was able to do a walk-through at the stadium and hold meetings. Carolina is expected to be back on a normal schedule on Tuesday including the regular Tuesday press conference.. Some players who did not travel with the team over the weekend were unable to get back into town on Sunday as planned due to so many roads being closed, but should be back in now as things get back to normal.
Recruiting Notes:
-- Former Maudin High ATH and current Holmes CC wide receiver Dre Massey was scheduled to visit South Carolina this weekend for the LSU game, but Massey says that he's likely going to take an official visit for the Florida game instead due to the flooding. Massey will definitely visit the Gamecocks at some point this season and I expect them to make a major move when he does. Massey is very much interested in the idea of playing in his home state and he's the type of playmaker that the Carolina offense simply needs more of right now.
I've seen a couple of questions about Massey's ability as a wide receiver (he played all over, including quarterback, in high school and is sort of a wingback where he is now), and those are valid questions. There may be a bit of a transition there, but Massey is such a natural playmaker, that I think you take him and then figure it out from there. Massey is someone that can help in so many ways -- receiver, return game, wildcat, etc. -- that you pretty much have to take him when you consider the current shape of the Carolina offense. In fact, Massey could even potentially help the Gamecocks at running back if that's where they decided to play him.
Put simply, Carolina will have to turn to the JUCO ranks to an extent to help fix this thing on offense and Massey is the type of difference-maker they should be signing from there. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Carolina look to take a junior college running back as well.
-- Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge three-star ATH/RB Tyrek Tisdale decommitted from Florida over the weekend and is now considering South Carolina again among others. Tisdale, who took an official visit to Oregon State over the weekend, is also considering West Virginia, Indiana, FAU and and USF. There was a time earlier in the process that Tisdale had the Gamecocks in the lead and he was a take for them at the time. I'm told that they'll take another look into his situation before deciding what to do this time. West Virginia is also currently scheduled to get an official visit.
-- As you'd expect, South Carolina's commitments are still receiving plenty of interest from other programs. While some of those have been well-documented (Auburn with Marlon Character, Georgia with Bryan Edwards, Clemson/Arizona State with J.J. Givens), here are a couple of other situations just to keep an eye on.
Greensboro (N.C.) Northern Guilford RB C.J. Freeman tells us that he's still hearing from Louisville and Georgia State and could take a visit to Louisville. Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge OL Will Putnam has added an offer from Miami since committing to the Gamecocks, but says he's not really entertaining other schools. Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing S P.J. Blue tells us he's still hearing from other programs, but didn't specify which ones. Blue actually visited UGA for the Gamecocks loss to Georgia.
Team thoughts:
-- Obviously, a very tough loss Saturday for South Carolina in the context of the rest of the season. Missouri was a beatable team, but simply looked better than the Gamecocks in most any way that you can slice it. We said it before the game, and it remains true now, when you look at the schedule, a win over Missouri was incredibly important to the Gamecocks' chances of getting bowl eligible. Carolina will be favored over Vanderbilt and The Citadel, but they'll be underdogs in the other remaining games.
The great thing about college football is that anything can happen on any given week, but it's difficult to see this team getting there at this point. We try not to overreact to any one game and try to acknowledge that teams can improve as a season progresses, but five games into the season and South Carolina is still plagued by many of the same mistakes we've seen affect them all season long. That's not a good trend.
-- Quarterback Lorenzo Nunez handled himself with poise and confidence during his first start, but the early pressure Missouri was able to get on the freshman quarterback caused many freshman mistakes. Nunez has a big-time upside and a bright future in the program, but those are the type of things that can happen when starting a true freshman on the road. We talked all weekend about how consistent and relentless Missouri's defensive line is, and I think their play set the tone for the entire game. Not only were they able to stop the Gamecocks' running backs, but their early pressure in the passing game forced Nunez to "feel' pressure in the pocket even when it wasn't there. That led him to him putting the ball in danger and the Tigers obviously made him pay for it.
-- It doesn't get any easier for South Carolina as Leonard Fournette and LSU comes to town this weekend. More than one source in college football has compared Fournette's game to Adrian Peterson and he's largely considered to be the best back in college football. LSU will run the football in a much different way (I-formation vs. spread) than Missouri did Saturday, but the fact that Carolina once again did not fit the run well against Mizzou remains a major issue especially when you consider that Missouri hasn't run the ball effectively against other teams.
-- South Carolina did not practice in a normal sense on Monday due to the severe flooding in the Midlands area, but was able to do a walk-through at the stadium and hold meetings. Carolina is expected to be back on a normal schedule on Tuesday including the regular Tuesday press conference.. Some players who did not travel with the team over the weekend were unable to get back into town on Sunday as planned due to so many roads being closed, but should be back in now as things get back to normal.
Recruiting Notes:
-- Former Maudin High ATH and current Holmes CC wide receiver Dre Massey was scheduled to visit South Carolina this weekend for the LSU game, but Massey says that he's likely going to take an official visit for the Florida game instead due to the flooding. Massey will definitely visit the Gamecocks at some point this season and I expect them to make a major move when he does. Massey is very much interested in the idea of playing in his home state and he's the type of playmaker that the Carolina offense simply needs more of right now.
I've seen a couple of questions about Massey's ability as a wide receiver (he played all over, including quarterback, in high school and is sort of a wingback where he is now), and those are valid questions. There may be a bit of a transition there, but Massey is such a natural playmaker, that I think you take him and then figure it out from there. Massey is someone that can help in so many ways -- receiver, return game, wildcat, etc. -- that you pretty much have to take him when you consider the current shape of the Carolina offense. In fact, Massey could even potentially help the Gamecocks at running back if that's where they decided to play him.
Put simply, Carolina will have to turn to the JUCO ranks to an extent to help fix this thing on offense and Massey is the type of difference-maker they should be signing from there. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Carolina look to take a junior college running back as well.
-- Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge three-star ATH/RB Tyrek Tisdale decommitted from Florida over the weekend and is now considering South Carolina again among others. Tisdale, who took an official visit to Oregon State over the weekend, is also considering West Virginia, Indiana, FAU and and USF. There was a time earlier in the process that Tisdale had the Gamecocks in the lead and he was a take for them at the time. I'm told that they'll take another look into his situation before deciding what to do this time. West Virginia is also currently scheduled to get an official visit.
-- As you'd expect, South Carolina's commitments are still receiving plenty of interest from other programs. While some of those have been well-documented (Auburn with Marlon Character, Georgia with Bryan Edwards, Clemson/Arizona State with J.J. Givens), here are a couple of other situations just to keep an eye on.
Greensboro (N.C.) Northern Guilford RB C.J. Freeman tells us that he's still hearing from Louisville and Georgia State and could take a visit to Louisville. Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge OL Will Putnam has added an offer from Miami since committing to the Gamecocks, but says he's not really entertaining other schools. Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing S P.J. Blue tells us he's still hearing from other programs, but didn't specify which ones. Blue actually visited UGA for the Gamecocks loss to Georgia.
Team thoughts:
-- Obviously, a very tough loss Saturday for South Carolina in the context of the rest of the season. Missouri was a beatable team, but simply looked better than the Gamecocks in most any way that you can slice it. We said it before the game, and it remains true now, when you look at the schedule, a win over Missouri was incredibly important to the Gamecocks' chances of getting bowl eligible. Carolina will be favored over Vanderbilt and The Citadel, but they'll be underdogs in the other remaining games.
The great thing about college football is that anything can happen on any given week, but it's difficult to see this team getting there at this point. We try not to overreact to any one game and try to acknowledge that teams can improve as a season progresses, but five games into the season and South Carolina is still plagued by many of the same mistakes we've seen affect them all season long. That's not a good trend.
-- Quarterback Lorenzo Nunez handled himself with poise and confidence during his first start, but the early pressure Missouri was able to get on the freshman quarterback caused many freshman mistakes. Nunez has a big-time upside and a bright future in the program, but those are the type of things that can happen when starting a true freshman on the road. We talked all weekend about how consistent and relentless Missouri's defensive line is, and I think their play set the tone for the entire game. Not only were they able to stop the Gamecocks' running backs, but their early pressure in the passing game forced Nunez to "feel' pressure in the pocket even when it wasn't there. That led him to him putting the ball in danger and the Tigers obviously made him pay for it.
-- It doesn't get any easier for South Carolina as Leonard Fournette and LSU comes to town this weekend. More than one source in college football has compared Fournette's game to Adrian Peterson and he's largely considered to be the best back in college football. LSU will run the football in a much different way (I-formation vs. spread) than Missouri did Saturday, but the fact that Carolina once again did not fit the run well against Mizzou remains a major issue especially when you consider that Missouri hasn't run the ball effectively against other teams.
