SOUTH CAROLINA
Last season: 9-4 (5-3 SEC)>2018 opener: Sept. 1 vs. Coastal Carolina in Columbia (noon on the SEC Network)Fun fact: South Carolina had never won a bowl game until the 1994 season. The Gamecocks are 9-5 in bowls since, including last season’s 26-19 win over Michigan in the Outback Bowl.COMING THURSDAY: Texas A&M
It was a stellar season that may have rivaled those of former Georgia running back Herschel Walker or former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton in Southeastern Conference lore, but it never saw its completion.
In fact, it hardly got going.
South Carolina fifth-year senior receiver Deebo Samuel erupted out of the gate last season, taking the opening kickoff in the opener against North Carolina State for a 97-yard touchdown. He had another 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second game at Missouri and scored on the first play from scrimmage in the third game against Kentucky, hauling in a 68-yard pass from quarterback Jake Bentley.
Samuel amassed 474 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns through the first 10 quarters a year ago, but his magical start for Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks ended with a broken fibula in his left leg during the third quarter against the Wildcats.
“Not only did the offense take a hit confidence-wise, but it hit the whole team,” Bentley said last month at SEC Media Days. “When you’ve got a guy like that who you know can make a game change with one play and now he’s not out there, I think it took a toll on us a little bit. When he got back out there earlier this year, you could just see the guys’ confidence in him and what he is able to do.
“Not only is he a great player, but he is a great teammate as well.”
Samuel’s statistics from last year’s shortened season include 15 receptions for 250 yards and three touchdowns, two rushes for 30 yards and a score and the two kickoff returns that totaled 194 yards and wound up in the end zone as well. His six touchdowns in 10 quarters wound up tying for South Carolina’s single-season lead, despite Samuel spending the last nine games sidelined and rehabbing from the setback.
There was a flicker of hope that Samuel might return for the last couple of games and the bowl trip, but he sprained his foot in early November and was shelved.
“The hardest part is getting through rehab,” Samuel said. “When you get hurt and first start, you feel stiff, but as you push through it, you get better and better. The thing that was motivating me was the love that I have for the game. I wasn’t going to give up on my dream.
“The thing that helped me start taking it slow was that I was going to be able to graduate in December. My parents and Coach Muschamp played a big role in that.”
Samuel and Bentley already had a bond before Samuel’s injury, and it strengthened during Samuel’s toughest days.
“Day in and day out, Jake came in saying, ‘Hey, Deebo, how are you doing?'” Samuel said. “He would go talk to the trainers to make sure I was doing the right thing to get back on the field. Jake Bentley is not only a good quarterback who can really control the offense, he’s a really good guy.”
With Samuel sidelined, South Carolina struggled offensively for much the year, ranking 12th in the SEC in yards per game (337.1) and points per game (24.2). Yet the Gamecocks held their own defensively and had the league’s second-best turnover ratio behind Alabama.
It all added up to a 9-4 season that shattered expectations right to the very end, when the Gamecocks took on heavily favored Michigan in the Outback Bowl and fell behind 19-3 but rallied for a 26-19 win.
South Carolina returns eight offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s team and has a favorable schedule this season. Georgia and Clemson could be the only teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 that the Gamecocks will face, and the Georgia game will be in Columbia on Sept. 8.
Samuel is expected to be at least as busy as he was at the start of last season.
“We’re looking forward to getting him the ball a bunch,” Muschamp said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.