By Chris Marler
The offense is set, but can the defense replace all the talent it’s losing?
South Carolina defied expectations in 2024, turning a projected five-win season into one of college football’s most compelling stories despite a rocky 3-3 start that included heartbreaking losses to Alabama and LSU.
Something clicked at the halfway point and the Gamecocks finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. South Carolina won their final six games. Four of those came against ranked opponents and they finished November with the longest active winning streak in the SEC.
Not Georgia. Not Texas. Definitely not Alabama. South Carolina finished with the longest active winning streak in the conference.
A large part of the transformation and turnaround was LaNorris Sellers at quarterback. Over hIs last six games he was one of the best quarterbacks in the country and recorded 18 total touchdowns to just three interceptions.
However, the offense isn’t what’s in question for 2025. It’s the defense.
Clayton White has been one of the most underrated and overlooked defensive coordinators in all of college football over the last several years. His 2024 unit was one of his best, as the Gamecocks finished in the top five in the SEC in scoring, rushing, and total defense. They forced 24 turnovers on the season. That gives them 88 total turnovers forced in the four seasons he’s called the defense which is the most in the SEC.
They were elite at nearly every level. More importantly, they had elite talent at every level. That’s where the concern comes in for next year’s team.
South Carolina has had a good defense every year under White. However, they haven’t had a defense as good as the one on the 2024 team. That unit featured two All-Americans in Nick Emmanwori and Kyle Kennard. Kennard was also the SEC Defensive Player of the Year after registering 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss.
Perhaps the biggest concern lies in one of their biggest accolades for the program. A record 11 players were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis for the 2025 NFL Draft. That’s more than double the total invites they’ve had each year over the last decade. That’s a huge feather in the cap for Shane Beamer and a great tool for future recruiting. It’s also a concern considering eight of those 11 players are from the defense. That includes four of the eight off the defensive line alone.
There’s still talent on the roster heading into next season and that includes the defense. Dylan Stewart is already one of the best defensive players in the SEC and is only a true sophomore. There is also a ton of talent returning in the secondary.
The Gamecocks are familiar with having to replace talent and overcome the low expectations placed on them from people outside of Columbia and sometimes within their own fanbase. The concern isn’t exceeding expectations, the concern is replacing talent.
This year the question was how would Shane Beamer and his team play with a young unproven quarterback and a coach on the hot seat (according to people outside of Columbia). That question was answered with a contract extension for Beamer and a quarterback on the shortlist of Heisman frontrunners for next season. Now the question becomes how does South Carolina handle a season in the SEC with an entire unproven defense and how do they do it when the expectations are the highest they’ve been in a decade.
