The fourth in a series previewing SEC football teams.
HOOVER, Ala. -- South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier, who turned 70 in April, is running out of time to lead the Gamecocks to their first SEC football championship.
Spurrier, though, isn't giving up hope.
South Carolina glance
LAST SEASON 7-6, 3-5 (tied for 4th in SEC East)
COACH Steve Spurrier (84-45 in 10 seasons at South Carolina, 226-85-2 in 25 seasons overall)
RETURNING STARTERS 13 (offense 4, defense 8, specialty 1)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS WR Pharoh Cooper, RB Brandon Willis, LB Skai Moore, OT Brandon Shell
SEC TITLE SCENARIO South Carolina needs to establish a new starting quarterback — or maybe two quarterbacks knowing Steve Spurrier — and make big strides on defense to have a realistic shot to win its first SEC championship.
SOUTH CAROLINA
2015 SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 vs. North Carolina^
Sept. 12 Kentucky*
Sept. 19 at Georgia*
Sept 26 Central Florida
Oct. 3 at Missouri*
Oct. 10 LSU*
Oct. 17 Vanderbilt*
Oct. 31 at Texas A&M*
Nov. 7 at Tennessee*
Nov. 14 Florida*
Nov. 21 The Citadel
Nov. 28 Clemson
- SEC game
^ At Charlotte, N.C.
The man led Duke to the 1989 Atlantic Coast Conference title -- the Blue Devils haven't won the ACC since -- so who's to say he can't add to the six SEC championships he won at Florida?
South Carolina had the look of an SEC contender going into last season, ranked No. 9 nationally after putting together three consecutive 11-2 records and finishing No. 9, No. 8 and No. 4 in The Associated Press polls.
Texas A&M spoiled last season's opener, winning 52-28 at South Carolina, and the Gamecocks went on to finish 7-6, including 3-5 in SEC play.
South Carolina has played 23 seasons in the SEC without winning a championship. Spurrier led the Gamecocks to the East title in 2010, but they were crushed by Auburn 56-17 in the SEC Championship Game.
The Gamecocks' lone conference title came in 1969, when they won the ACC two years before leaving to become an independent.
"We still have never won an SEC," Spurrier said at SEC media days. "Nobody gives us a chance, which is good. Stranger things have happened. We still have lofty goals, but we need to return to being a top-10 team.
"I don't think we're too far from returning to that."
Media covering the SEC don't agree. They voted the Gamecocks to finish fourth in the East.
Of course, Spurrier could respond that the media is 5-18 when it comes to picking the SEC champion since 1992.
"We're really looking forward to this year," he said. "We're eager to see what we can do."
Spurrier was encouraged by the Gamecocks winning three of their final four games last season, including a 24-21 victory over Miami in the Independence Bowl.
"It rejuvenated us," he said. "It was a huge win for our program, for me, for all of us."
Junior All-SEC receiver Pharoh Cooper, who led the Gamecocks last season with 69 catches for 1,136 yards and 9 touchdowns, said the bowl victory was a major confidence boost that has carried over.
"We're going to do a whole lot better than people think," Cooper said. "That's our mentality. We know we're a good team. We're working hard to be a better team and get back to 11 wins.
"That's what we're supposed to do at South Carolina."
Junior linebacker Shaki Moore, who led the Gamecocks with 93 tackles last season, said he understands others may not be high on South Carolina.
"We don't expect any praise after what happened last year, but we're here to shock the world," Moore said.
South Carolina's major concern is finding a starting quarterback to replace Dylan Thompson, who as a senior last season had a school-record 3,564 passing yards with 27 touchdowns.
Cooper is the team's leading returning passer. Taking direct snaps in the Wildcat formation, he completed 5 of 8 passes for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Connor Mitch completed 2 of 6 passes for 19 yards last season, but as a senior at Raleigh (N.C.) Wakefield High School he threw 63 touchdown passes. He is competing for the starting job with redshirt freshman Michael Scarnecchia, true freshman Lorenzo Nunez and junior walk-on Perry Orth.
"We've got a month before the first game, so we should be able to figure out who can play the best," Spurrier said. "I know we can't get four ready to play, but I've been a coach to play two quarterbacks, and you can win with two."
Spurrier is counting on new co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke -- who will call the plays and work with co-coordinator Lorenzo Ward -- to help fix a defense that allowed an average of 432.7 yards and 30.4 points last season.
Hoke had been an NFL assistant the previous 13 years after being Spurrier's defensive coordinator at Florida.
"We've got good coaches at South Carolina, but for whatever reason last year we did not play well defensively," Spurrier said. "Probably more my fault than anybody's.
"We can play a lot better defensively, and I think everybody's going to see that this year."
Sports on 07/17/2015