The South Carolina Gamecocks are gearing up for the 2014 football season. Last year their overall record was 11-2 and 4-2 in the SEC East.
In the quarterback aspect of the game, the Gamecocks lost their starting quarterback Connor Shaw to the NFL. Shaw was a huge aspect to the Gamecock offense, throwing for 1,448 yards. It’s now time for fifth year senior Dylan Thompson to take the place of Shaw; he heads into his senior season with a 3-0 record as a starter and throwing for 1,827 career yards with 14 touchdowns.
“We really believe he’s a very good player and has a chance to lead us to a big season,” coach Steve Spurrier said during his 10th SEC Media Days appearance with the Gamecocks. “He’s a fifth-year player. He’s been to all the games. He’s 3-0 as a starter and really played the entire game last year against Central Florida with Connor Shaw getting hurt in the first quarter. He was the only quarterback in the nation to beat UCF.”
Spurrier says the team must move forward without Shaw.
“We know we have to live without Clowney, (Jadaveon) we had to live without Marcus Lattimore and now we have to live without Connor Shaw,” quipped Spurrier.”
Dylan Thompson knows he is stepping into a big position.
“Being a leader is fun to me, everything you do about loving people and building these relationships is what I try to do with our team, we have a great relationship.”
Thompson knows the SEC is a tough league to play in but looks forward to the challenge.
“I’m excited about playing but its the SEC so the level of competition is going to stay the same. You will probably look up at the end of the year and their will be a good many of us in the top ten like it always is. Quarterback is one position but I still think the level of competition will be there”.
The Gamecocks received a huge loss to the defensive line when Jadeveon Clowney was drafted by the Houston Texans. Spurrier will look toward returning defensive ends Darius English and Gerald Dixon to replace Clowney.
Despite personnel losses, Spurrier says one of the main goals of the team is to win an SEC championship.
“The main goal is to win an SEC championship, hopefully these new recruits coming in can witness the first ever SEC championship team. We have been close, but not close enough.”
The Gamecocks will open their season against the Texas A&M Aggies on August 28th.
To hear more from Spurrier and the Gamecocks click below:
Spurrier talks about adding a SEC championship to the mix
Spurrier on replacing key players from the previous season