Donell Stanley's message to his teammates entering week two

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Donell Stanley was just a few hours removed from arguably his team’s most disappointing loss in a very long time when the Gamecocks’ sixth-year senior lineman walked into church.

He was likely hoping to get an hour or so reprieve from what was a rough start to his final season at South Carolina but instead received some perspective on his situation he’s trying to apply to the final 11 or 12 games of his career.

“The guy, he was talking about mountains and valleys. We’re in the valley right now and you find out who your true friends are,” he said. “You learn a lot about yourself in the valley. When you’re on the mountain, everything’s going good. We’re in the valley right now and we have each other. It’s dark and it’s cloudy and we have to get out of it. It’s a long season ahead.”

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By mid-afternoon Saturday after the Gamecocks' game against Charleston Southern, Stanley and the Gamecocks will know if they’ve started their climb out of the valley or not. Regardless of what happens, they still have a lot of football left and that’s been the message this week from Stanley and the rest of his teammates.

“Right now we’re in a dark spot and we all know it. It’s the beginning of the season and we have a lot of football to play,” he said. “We can sit back and moan and feel sorry for ourselves but we’re moving on. It’s going to take everyone in that locker room.”

Already facing the nation’s toughest schedule, the Gamecocks (0-1) got off to an inauspicious start last week against North Carolina, seeing an 11-point second half lead turn quickly into a 24-20 loss.

That put South Carolina in one of those valleys Stanley talked about with really no other way to go right now than up.

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They get their first chance to start the trek up that slope this weekend, coming home to play Charleston Southern at noon on the SEC Network.

The Bucs are in a stage of upheaval right now both from a logistical and program-building sense.

They’re not only breaking in an entirely new coaching staff and transitioning over from a triple option offense to more of an air-raid style, but the team relocated to Charlotte and practiced in Columbia this week with Hurricane Dorian causing evacuations up the coast of the Carolinas.

Regardless of the distractions around the team, South Carolina can’t overlook the Bucs knowing the Gamecocks will probably get the biggest haymaker Charleston Southern can throw.

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“We’re going to get their best shot,” Stanley said. “They have some real good players and most of the guys are from South Carolina. They probably want to be where we are. We’re going to get their best shot. They’re going to come here thinking they can win the game we have to come in prepared and be ready for them.”

The Bucs lost their opener 43-16 to Furman, giving up 369 yards on the ground but also rushing for 185 yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry.

South Carolina knows it’s an FCS school but they know Charleston Southern comes in with upset on their mind while the Gamecocks are trying to wash the taste of last week out of their mouths.

“We’re going to come out hungry,” D.J. Wonnum said. “We come out hungry every game. We’ll be ready this weekend."