[SIZE= 24px]GAMECOCKFANATICS OFFICIAL PREVIEW & PREDICTION THREAD:[/SIZE]
2019 Belk College Kickoff Classic
South Carolina Gamecocks vs North Carolina Tarheels
When: Saturday August 31, 2019
Kick-off: 3:30 pm EDT
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
TV: ESPN
The 2019 season kicks off in earnest as the South Carolina Gamecocks battle their old rivals the North Carolina Tarheels in the Belk College Kickoff Classic, in the 75,523-seat Bank of America (BoA) Stadium on Saturday, August 31st, at 3:30 pm ET. The last time each team faced each other, it pitted head coaches Steve Spurrier for USC and Larry Fedora for UNC. This season will be the first ever contest between Gamecock Head Coach Will Muschamp, in his 4th year at USC, against 1st-year Tarheel Head Coach Mack Brown. Another story within a story, Muschamp spent three seasons on Brown's staff at Texas, as the Defensive Coordinator and "Head Coach In Waiting", before taking the top job at Florida in 2011.
Both programs are coming into 2019 looking to step forward from their previous seasons' performances. Muschamp's Gamecocks finished 7-6 (4-4) in 2018 in a season that many feel under-performed with heart-breaking losses to Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Florida, as well as a disappointing 28-0 loss to Virginia in the Belk Bowl, played in BoA Stadium. Brown takes over the Tarheels program in his second stint as their Head Coach - he previously coached UNC from 1988 to 1997 - and is looking to rebuild the fallen program that experienced only two Atlantic Coast Conference wins, and only five wins overall, over the previous two seasons.
The Coaches
USC Gamecocks
Head Coach: Will Muschamp (age 48), 4th year, 22-17 (50-38 as Head Coach)
Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Bryan McClendon
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Travaris Robinson
Quarterbacks: Dan Werner
Running Backs: Thomas Brown
Offensive Line: Eric Wolford
Tight Ends: Bobby Bentley
Defensive Line: John Scott Jr.
Special Teams/Linebackers: Coleman Hutzler
Special Teams/Nickle Backs/Sam Linebackers: Kyle Krantz
Outside Linebackers: Mike Peterson
UNC Tarheels
Head Coach: Mack Brown (age 67), 1st year (2nd stint), 11th year overall, 0-0, 69-46-1 total (244-122-1 as Head Coach)
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Phil Longo
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties: Jay Bateman
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers: Tommy Thigpen
Wide Receiver: Lonnie Galloway
Running Backs: Robert Gillespie
Offensive Line: Stacy Searels
Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends: Tim Brewster
Defensive Line: Tim Cross
Cornerbacks: Dre Bly
Special Teams/Outside Linebackers: Scott Boone
The Rivalry - The Battle Of The Carolinas
This season's game will be the 58th edition to "The Battle of the Carolinas": a rivalry that began in 1903, and spanned across both programs being conference mates in the Southern Conference and then the Atlantic Coast Conference. UNC holds a 34-19-4 overall lead in the series. USC would win the final 4 games in the series as a conference rival in the ACC, and then win 8 of the next 13 games - including 6 of the last 7 - as an independent and then current member of the SEC. After this opening game, both teams are scheduled to meet again in 2023, again at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Key Match-ups In The Game
With UNC's new Air-Raid offense under Phil Longo, and new "position-less" defense under Jay Bateman, UNC will have their work cut out for them to get onto the same page quickly against South Carolina. On offense, UNC will rely heavily on it's RB depth - not-so arguably the strongest position on its offense, if not its entire team. The Tarheel QB will be young, inexperienced, and facing a SEC level defense for their first time, regardless who it may end up being. The RBs will be expected to be additional receivers all game long, as well. Perhaps the biggest question after the QB position for the Tarheels is their OL, which returns only two starters from 2018.
South Carolina's defense's biggest match-up will therefore be at the line of scrimmage, with their veteran experience of seniors Wonnum, Kinlaw, Smith, and Thomas. If Coach Muschamp's defense can collapse the Tarheel OL consistently, it could be a reverse to what Bateman wants from his own defense, and keep UNC's offense off the field, and allow the Gamecock offense to stay on it.
Defensively, UNC will also look to fluster USC QB Jake Bentley with disguises, pre-snap movements and unique blitz angles. The idea behind this is to eliminate double-teams on defensive players, to effectively leave offensive blockers with no one to block. Overall to fluster QBs on their reads, OLs on their assignments, and put the offenses into 3rd and long situations, and get them off of the field. Their defense will depend heavily on strong DT play, and they do have a couple of quality DTs in seniors Crawford and Strowbridge, but beyond them their depth is thin in experience.
The offensive response to this for South Carolina, is for senior QB Jake Bentley to be on his game. He needs to make strong reads of UNC's defensive looks, and hit his targets dead on when he gets them. UNC's DL may not be that consistent with it's young depth, so the Gamecock RBs must exploit whatever weaknesses or soft spots they can find, and help the passing game. This is a major objective for the Gamecock offense against any opponent this season, but it will be especially crucial against an unproven Tarheel defense playing their first game in a new system.
Overall, both USC and UNC come into this game with major questions for their ability to defend against the run. Both had terrible run defenses in 2018: USC was ranked 95th nationally, while UNC was 111th. USC's run offense was mediocre in 2018, ranked 92nd nationally, while UNC's was a strong 44th. Both teams return veteran experience and depth at the RB position, while UNC's offensive scheme may ultimately turn towards the pass game, they will rely largely on their RB leadership. USC will need to hope that improvements on their defense combined with UNC's weaker OL plus their inexperience will make the difference in the game, while their own run game is able to capitalize on UNC's issues with their own defense. Whichever team's defense responds against the opposing run game better, will go a long way towards helping that team to victory.
South Carolina Will Win If
The Gamecocks bring the more battle-hardened, experienced, and more confident team. There is more continuity, and more leadership. They just need to play like it. Bentley and Edwards are set to become all-time career leaders at QB and WR for South Carolina - they need to bring their leadership and talents and knowledge to the table. Bentley has had issues with starting games in the past too emotional and fired up. Hopefully his maturity will enable him to calmly lead the team. The offense under Coach McClendon is adynamic one, but the consistency of execution has not been at times. Start the game on the same page, make the reads, make the blocks, and the backs hit the seams, and the offense should be strong. The defense comes out strong and aggressive, and they will find plenty to eat.
North Carolina Will Win If
This may be almost as much a question on South Carolina as it is on North Carolina. The Gamecocks have started season-openers sluggishly in the past, but they've been fortunate to come on strong late in games and pulled them out. But Mack Brown is a proven coach: does he have the talent and depth he'll need in Game 1 of Season 1 (Part 2)? Will South Carolina help his team believe that he does? The last thing an inexperienced team with little confidence needs, is a boost of confidence from their opponent, where the Gamecocks are concerned.
What Will Happen
This South Carolina team is loaded with veteran players: Bentley, Edwards, Dowdle, Feaster, Wonnum, Kinlaw, Thomas, Brunson, Smith. Lots of leaders who are on their last rodeo. They will have this season as their final chance to put their signature on their college careers, and perhaps get people at the next level looking their way. Several of them contemplated trying for that next level after last season, but for various reasons returned to make a stronger case for themselves in 2019.
This team left 2018 with some unfinished business, and a sour taste in their mouths. UNC is totally YOLO-ing it this season, with no idea what lies ahead, and little expectations for themselves. Early on, as each team and staff feels each other out, there will be some stumbles and mistakes, but I expect South Carolina's experience and depth to push through towards the end of each half, as North Carolina's team wears down...
GCF Prediction
South Carolina 42, North Carolina 24
Please offer your thoughts and discussion regarding the game!
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