SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
A uninspiring ending to an otherwise good book or movie can usually leave a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth and the first year of the Bryan McClendon experience as offensive coordinator.
The Gamecocks’ turned to McClendon after firing Kurt Roper and saw marked improvement on the offensive side of the ball, sans the final six quarters where the offense couldn’t muster any points despite a few chances to do so.
“I thought Bryan did a good job. Obviously we didn’t end the season the way we wanted to getting shutout in the bowl game,” Will Muschamp said. “That’s on me; we were down three scores at one time and could have kicked a field goal just so we could score but hell I’m trying to win the game. We needed to get seven on the board. We didn’t end the way we wanted to but there would good things moving forward.”
Also see: Prospects to watch in the 2020 hoops class
But, the final game and a half of the season shouldn’t take away from some of the strides McClendon made moving on from an anemic offense in 2017.
The Gamecocks averaged 30.1 points per game, up six points from 2017, ran more plays and averaged more yards per carry, yards per completion and yards per game under McClendon than they did in Roper’s second and final year in Columbia.
The problem came with some trouble holding on to the ball—Jake Bentley threw a career-high 14 interceptions and lost seven fumbles—and had some red zone woes, finishing 13th in the conference with a 77 percent success rate (43-of-56) with 32 touchdowns.
Some of that, though, wasn’t on McClendon or the game he was calling at the time and Muschamp thinks the fast-pace style they implemented last offseason really worked.
“We improved about a touchdown a game, about a hundred yards a game, eight more snaps a game. The tempo helped us. There were some inconsistencies catching the football and guys let’s go back and look at it,” Muschamp said. “There were some touchdowns left out there. There were some momentum changers and Bryan didn’t drop them. You look at that in the red zone. I feel like we had a lot of self-inflicted issues.”
Also see: Tennessee wideout discusses latest South Carolina offer
Now, entering McClendon’s second year it’s about maximizing the potential of this group of offensive skill players, which is arguably the best group Will Muschamp’s had in four seasons at South Carolina.
They return seven starters offensively, including the team’s leading passer in Jake Bentley, top two rushers (Rico Dowdle and Mon Denson) and second-leading receiver Bryan Edwards along with three starters along the offensive line: Donell Stanley, Sadarius Hutcherson and Dylan Wonnum.
Not to mention Shi Smith and OrTre Smith coming back into the fold.
So while Edwards might not want to put concrete expectations down on what the Gamecocks can do offensively, he’s not shy about saying the potential to be potent is there.
“We can accomplish anything we want to accomplish offensively,” Edwards said. “I expect us to score a lot of points, play fast and play physical.”
Also see: Examining where things stand for the Gamecocks in the 2020 class
Heading into year two, South Carolina wants to play faster and continue to increase yardage and point outputs with McClendon able to install more of his scheme.
A big piece of that is versatility and putting different players in multiple spots.
“B-Mac’s system, it has a lot of moving pieces to it, a lot of things to switch around so guys can’t play you one way,” Edwards said. “You can move anybody into any position. Everything’s interchangeable. As far as expectations, you just have to wait and see.”
