2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gamecocks' first-year head coach was Will Muschamp, with Kurt Roper as offensive coordinator and Travaris Robinson as defensive coordinator.^[2] They finished the season 6–7, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division.^[3] They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl, where they lost to No. 25 South Florida in overtime.^[4]

2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Birmingham Bowl, L 39–46 OT vs. South Florida
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East Division
Record	6–7 (3–5 [1] SEC)
Head coach	Will Muschamp (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Kurt Roper (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bryan McClendon (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Travaris Robinson (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Williams-Brice Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 14 Florida x		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 Tennessee		4	–	4					9	–	4
Georgia		4	–	4					8	–	5
Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	6
South Carolina		3	–	5					6	–	7
Vanderbilt		3	–	5					6	–	7
Missouri*		2	–	6					4	–	8
Western Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 24 Auburn		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 13 LSU		5	–	3					8	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					8	–	5
Arkansas		3	–	5					7	–	6
Mississippi State		3	–	5					6	–	7
Ole Miss*		2	–	6					5	–	7
Championship: Alabama 54, Florida 16
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * Ole Miss and Missouri vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

Following a 2–4 start,^[3] freshman Jake Bentley became the starting quarterback and led the Gamecocks to a 4–3 finish,^[5] including an upset over No. 18 Tennessee.^[6] South Carolina had a three-win improvement over the previous year and returned to the postseason, but finished with a second consecutive losing season.^[7]

Schedule

South Carolina announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consisted of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Gamecocks hosted SEC foes Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, and traveled to Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt.^[8]

For the tenth year, the Gamecocks opened their season on a Thursday. The team hosted three out of four of its non–conference games which were against Clemson (from the ACC), East Carolina (from the American), Massachusetts (from the MAC), and Western Carolina (from the Southern Conference).

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN	W 13–10	30,304
September 10	7:00 p.m.	at Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (SEC Nation)	ESPN2	L 14–27	57,763
September 17	4:00 p.m.	East Carolina*	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 20–15	80,384
September 24	7:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	SECN	L 10–17	51,702
October 1	4:00 p.m.	No. 9 Texas A&M	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	L 13–24	78,245
October 9[a]	2:30 p.m.	Georgia	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	SECN	L 14–28	77,221
October 22	12:00 p.m.	Massachusetts*	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 34–28	73,428
October 29	7:15 p.m.	No. 18 Tennessee	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 24–21	78,696
November 5	4:00 p.m.	Missouri	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Mayor's Cup)	SECN	W 31–21	73,817
November 12	12:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (SEC Nation)	CBS	L 7–20	89,614
November 19	4:00 p.m.	Western Carolina*	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 44–31	76,650
November 26	7:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	ESPN	L 7–56	81,542
December 29	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 25 South Florida*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl)	ESPN	L 39–46 OT	31,229
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^{^[a]} The game between South Carolina and Georgia on October 8, 2016, was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew, and was rescheduled the following day on October 9, 2016.

Schedule Source:^[9]

Roster

2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Deebo Samuel  So WR 3 K. C. Crosby  So QB 4 Jake Bentley Fr WR 5 Terry Googer  So WR 8 Randrecous Davis Fr WR 9 Jerad Washington  Fr QB 10 Perry Orth  Sr QB 11 Brandon McIlwain Fr WR 12 Korey Banks Fr QB 12 Michael Scarnecchia  So WR 13 Shi Smith Fr WR 14 Jamari Smith  Jr WR 15 Matrick Belton  Sr QB 16 Bailey Hart Fr QB 18 Danny Gordon  So WR 22 Montray Feaster Fr RB 23 Rico Dowdle Fr WR 24 Garrett Frederick Fr RB 25 A. J. Turner  Fr RB 27 Ty'Son Williams So RB 30 Darius Paulk  Sr RB 32 Rod Talley  Jr RB 33 David Williams  Jr RB 34 Mon Denson  Fr RB 36 C. J. Freeman Fr TE 39 Rivers Bedenbaugh  Jr TE 40 Jacob August  So RB 44 Adrian McGee Fr OL 50 Sadarius Hutcherson Fr OL 51 Cory Helms  Jr OL 55 Christian Pellage So OL 60 Chandler Farrell Fr OL 61 Cameron Johnson Fr OL 63 Blake Camper So OL 65 Pika Leota Fr OL 66 Will Putnam Fr OL 67 Ryan Green So OL 69 D. J. Park  Jr OL 70 Alan Knott  Jr OL 71 Eric Douglas Fr OL 72 Donell Stanley  So OL 73 Summie Carlay Fr OL 74 Mason Zandi  Sr OL 77 Malik Young  So OL 78 Zack Bailey So OL 79 Trey Derouen  Fr WR 80 Shemar Glenn  Fr TE 81 Hayden Hurst So TE 82 Evan Hinson Fr WR 83 Chavis Dawkins Fr TE 84 Kyle Markway So WR 85 Devin Dingle  Fr TE 86 Robert Tucker III Fr TE 87 Kiel Pollard Fr WR 88 Javon Charleston  Fr WR 89 Bryan Edwards Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 3 Chris Lammons Jr LB 4 Bryson Allen-Williams Jr DL 5 Darius English  Sr LB 6 Chris Moody  Sr DB 7 Jamarcus King Jr DL 8 Marquavius Lewis Sr LB 9 Sherrod Pittman  Fr LB 10 Skai Moore Sr LB 11 T. J. Holloman  Sr DB 12 Kaleb Chalmers  So LB 13 Jalen Dread So DB 16 Rashad Fenton So DB 17 Chaz Elder  Sr DL 18 Keir Thomas Fr DB 21 Antoine Wilder  Fr DB 22 Steven Montac So LB 23 Larenz Bryant Sr DB 24 D. J. Smith Jr DB 26 Jasper Sasser  Jr LB 28 Jonathan Walton Sr DB 30 Shannon James  Sr DB 31 Chris Smith Fr LB 32 Brett Shore  Jr DB 34 Scott Grant  So DL 35 Daniel Fennell  Fr DB 36 Morgan Vest Fr DB 39 Demetrius Smalls  Jr DB 40 Jason Senn  Fr LB 41 Tyler Ragsdale  Fr DB 42 Jordan Diggs  Sr DB 43 Benji Russell  Jr LB 44 T. J. Brunson Fr LB 45 Spencer Eason-Riddle Fr LB 46 Trey Mitchell Fr DL 48 Dexter Wideman  Fr DL 49 Boosie Whitlow So DL 50 Griffin Gentry Fr DL 52 Jajuan Blankenship Fr LB 57 Hassan Belton So DL 61 Javion Duncan  So DL 90 Taylor Stallworth Jr DL 91 Shameik Blackshear  Fr DL 92 D. J. Wonnum Fr DL 93 Ulric Jones  Jr DL 94 Kelsey Griffin Sr DL 95 Dante Sawyer Jr DL 96 Aaron Thompson Fr DL 97 Kobe Smith Fr DL 98 Stephon Taylor Fr DL 99 Abu Lamin  Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 13 Sean Kelly  Sr K/P 20 Joseph Charlton  Fr K 29 Elliott Fry Sr K 42 Alexander Woznick Fr LS 45 Ben Asbury  So LS 46 Harrison Freeman Fr LS 47 Drew Williams Sr LS 48 Nick McGriff  So LS 59 Logan Crane  Fr K/P 85 Michael Almond  Fr LS 90 Wyman Baxley Fr	Head coach Will Muschamp Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster