Wes’ Big South Carolina Season Preview Part 2: Predicting the superlatives
Talking season is nearly over and it’s officially time for Carolina football.
As with every single football season, there are knowns, unknowns, and everything in between — and even the knowns can be fuzzy at best when dealing with a game as beautiful and cynical as football.
Those unknowns have been exacerbated by the transfer portal, making it nearly impossible to predict what’s going to happen as we embark on the 2025 season of college football… but we’ll do our best.
In this three-part preview, we’ll do our best to take everything we’ve learned over the entire offseason and boil it all down to some hopefully cohesive thoughts on what to watch, what to expect, and what we’re unsure of.
See Part 1 at this link. Part 2 is below.
Offensive MVP
LaNorris Sellers – These first two may get boring. You can’t really make any type of compelling case for anyone other than No. 16. The Heisman hopeful is what makes this offense go. He’s poised for a huge year.
Defensive MVP
Dylan Stewart – If South Carolina has the season it believes it can, then it’s got to involve Stewart wrecking shop on defense.
Honorable Mention: Jalon Kilgore
Newcomer of the Year – Offense (transfer)
RB Rahsul Faison – Faison was the talk of the entire offseason in Gamecock Nation for reasons other than his abilities, but now he gets to show what he’s capable of in a South Carolina offense that should have a lot of weapons. The Utah State transfer will likely be splitting carries with Oscar Adaway but Faison should still be in line for a big year.
Honorable Mention: Boaz Stanley, Isaiah Augustave
Newcomer of the Year – Offense (freshman)
WR Brian Rowe – I’ve been torn on whether to go with Rowe, Donovan Murph, or Shed Sarratt in this spot because all three have created some buzz this offseason and should play a factor. But this award is all about who makes the biggest impact. Is there a world where Murph just explodes from Day 1 and is arguably the best receiver on the team? Yep. Could Sarratt lock down the left guard job? For sure. But I’m going to play the odds on the guy we’ve heard about for the longest, and that’s Rowe.
Honorable mention: Murph, Sarratt
Newcomer of the Year – Defense (transfer)
DB Brandon Cisse – A football junkie with the nickname “Glitch?” What’s not to like about the N.C. State transfer. Cisse has been an excellent addition to the Gamecock defense and will play a ton this year. Despite starting out at corner, the staff keeps mentioning his versatility too, so he could get a lot of reps at nickelback or in other package situations.
Honorable Mention: Shawn Murphy, Justin Okoronkwo, Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy
Newcomer of the Year – Defense (freshman)
EDGE Anthony Addison – This is admittedly a bit of a darkhorse pick, as we simply have not heard as much about the freshmen on defense as we have some of the rookies on offense. There’s excitement about this young linebacker group, but as of right now, the buzz is around the returnees and transfers there. Same at defensive back. I don’t expect Addison to make a massive impact necessarily. But with George Wilson out for the foreseeable future, there may be a window for a designated pass-rush type on third down to step up, and that could be Addison.
Honorable Mention: Jaquel Holman
Special teams baller
DB Brandon Cisse – Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis made it a point to mention Cisse as someone who could help make plays on special teams. Typically, our minds go to specialists here, but Cisse is the type who can make an impact, potentially blocking kicks or being in on lots of tackles.
Most Improved – Offense
WR Nyck Harbor – The former five-star athlete famously gave up track for the spring and has been football-only ever since last season ended. It’s paid off. We saw flashes last year, but there’s hope that his game is about to take another step this year. I almost went with Trovon Baugh in this space and still want to give him some love. He has quietly made a jump as a player, from what I’ve heard.
Honorable Mention: Baugh, Mazeo Bennett
Most Improved – Defense
CB Judge Collier – The lightly recruited high school prospect has made steady progress throughout his career, playing in all 12 games as a reserve during his freshman year and then moving into a starting role as a sophomore last season. He’s poised to take another step this year. As we told GC members during the summer, Collier had an excellent offseason, becoming a bigger student of the game which should take his game to another level.
Honorable Mention: JayR Johnson
Darkhorse who could make an impact – Offense
TE Michael Smith – It’s hard for anyone to be a truly “surprise” player anymore with the level of attention and coverage placed on college football, so some may not even count Smith as a surprise. But with all of the talk about the young receivers and the running back room, and the fact that Smith missed the entire spring, it’s been a pretty quiet training camp for the sophomore tight end. Still, he’s a high-upside weapon who should get a lot of opportunities. Here’s to thinking his tight end mate Brady Hunt is also not getting enough attention.
Honorable Mention: Hunt
Darkhorse who could make an impact – Defense
LB Jaron Willis – After playing sparingly last season, Willis is in the two-deep at linebacker, though we’ve heard much more about the other trio of backers that are set to play a lot. Again, we’re talking darkhorse here, so that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the star of the group, but there’s a case to be made that he should be talked about a bit more. While he hasn’t put it all together yet, Willis is another super athletic LB who is in the mold of a Bam Martin-Scott. I also like his ability to rush the passer, which Carolina is going to need.
Honorable Mention: Davonte Miles
First annual Demetrius Knight Jr. Under-the-Radar Transfer Award
OL Boaz Stanley – South Carolina is starting to gain a reputation for finding under-the-radar transfers and turning them into major contributors. Enter Stanley, the Troy transfer who committed to the Gamecocks without it even being publicly known that he was in the portal. All he did was come in and pretty much lock down the center role so well that even Shane Beamer, who is all about competition, publicly singled him out for having a big lead in that battle at the end of the spring.
Leading Passer
QB LaNorris Sellers – The only pick possible here, so let’s try to predict some numbers. Everyone in Gamecock Nation expects Sellers to have a huge year, but predicting the numbers goes beyond just his play. Does he miss any time? How much garbage time is there? Is the team playing with a lead? If Sellers is relatively healthy for the year and if these receivers are as good as I think they are, I expect him to close in on 3,000 yards passing. Let’s go with 3,116 yards through the air with a 66.5 percent completion percentage, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Those may even be pretty conservative. As a runner, I’d expect a similar year to last season, so let’s go with 645 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Leading rusher
RB Rahsul Faison – Rocket Sanders was the clear answer here last year, but there are several potential picks this season. In addition to Faison, who was one of the top RBs in the portal, Oscar Adway has taken another step as a player and leader this year and will play a lot. Isaiah Augustave can hit the home run ball and had a great final scrimmage. Anyone paying attention to what I write, knows I love Matt Fuller’s upside. But I’m going with Faison for a predicted 797 yards and 8 TDs..
Honorable mention: Adaway
Leading receiver
WR Nyck Harbor – There are several options that would make sense here but given how much Harbor has reportedly improved this offseason, the smart play may be him. I do still believe it will be more of a wide receiver-by-committee than just one guy taking over, which is why I’m predicting big numbers but not a complete domination of the receiver workload. I’ll predict 46 catches, 687 yards, and 5 TDs. But if you told me Mazeo Bennett, Brian Rowe, or Donovan Murph took these honors, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.
Honorable Mention: Mazeo Bennett, Brian Rowe, Donovan Murph
Leading tackler
DQ Smith – This one is a shot in the dark and I considered a bunch of guys. Any one out of the linebacker trio of JayR Johnson, Shawn Murphy, and Justin Okoronkwo would have made sense, but I expect them to rotate a lot and may cannibalize each other’s stats. I highly considered going with Jalon Kilgore, who is poised for a big year. The nickel spot is around the ball a lot but is it enough to lead the team in tackles? Maybe so without Nick Emmanwori stealing so many stops. Then there’s DQ Smith and the fact that Carolina has had a safety lead the team in tackles several times during the Beamer era. Eliminating all defensive linemen and cornerbacks from the equation, it should come down to the guys listed above. I’ve heard Smith has taken another step and I expect him to be on the field a ton. He leads the team with 88 tackles.
Honorable Mention: Kilgore, Johnson, Murphy, Okoronkwo
Interceptions Leader
Jalon Kilgore – Interceptions are unpredictable but Kilgore had five last year, tied with Jaylan Foster for most in a Carolina uniform in the last two decades, so we’ll go with the guy who’s had a knack for making them.
Honorable Mention: Cisse, Collier, Smith
Sacks Leader
Dylan Stewart – Could it be anyone else? 9.5 sacks for the sophomore sensation.
