2017 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 2017 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2017 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). They were led by second-year head coach Will Muschamp. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in SEC play to finish in second place in the East Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl, where they defeated Michigan.

2017 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Outback Bowl champion
Outback Bowl, W 26–19 vs. Michigan
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East Division
Record	9–4 (5–3[1] SEC)
Head coach	Will Muschamp (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kurt Roper (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bryan McClendon (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Travaris Robinson (2nd season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Williams-Brice Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 2 Georgia x$^		7	–	1					13	–	2
South Carolina		5	–	3					9	–	4
Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	6
Missouri		4	–	4					7	–	6
Florida		3	–	5					4	–	7
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					5	–	7
Tennessee		0	–	8					4	–	8
Western Division
No. 10 Auburn xy		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 1 Alabama x#^		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 LSU		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 19 Mississippi State		4	–	4					9	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					7	–	6
Ole Miss*		3	–	5					6	–	6
Arkansas		1	–	7					4	–	8
Championship: Georgia 28, Auburn 7
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * Ole Miss ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from AP Poll

Led by returning quarterback Jake Bentley and the SEC's top turnover defense,^[2][3] the 2017 season was the peak of the Muschamp era.^[3] The Gamecocks had their first winning season and bowl victory since 2014.^[4] The nine-win season was only the seventh in school history, and the first since 2013.^[4] South Carolina had another three-win improvement over the previous season.^[4]

2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2017)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jamyest Williams CB	Loganville, GA	Grayson	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	Aug 27, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (86)
Shi Smith ATH	Union, SC	Union	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jun 11, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (83)
OrTre Smith WR	Mount Pleasant, SC	Wando	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	Sep 11, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (81)
M.J. Webb DE	Madison, GA	Morgan County High	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	271 lb (123 kg)	Aug 19, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (81)
Aaron Sterling DE	Tucker, GA	Tucker High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	259 lb (117 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (81)
Javon Kinlaw DT	Goose Creek, SC	Jones County Junior College	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	300 lb (140 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (81)
Will Register TE	Chapin, SC	Chapin	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Nov 11, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (81)
Keisean Nixon CB	Compton, CA	Arizona Western College	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Dec 14, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (83)
Chad Terrell WR	Dallas, GA	North Paulding	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Nov 11, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (79)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: 16    Rivals: 16    247Sports: 21    ESPN: 19
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Schedule

South Carolina announced its 2017 football schedule on September 13, 2016. The 2017 schedule consists of 7 home games, 4 away, and 1 neutral site game in the regular season. The Gamecocks hosted SEC foes Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt, and traveled to Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.^[5]

The Gamecocks hosted three of its four non–conference games which are against Clemson from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Louisiana Tech from Conference USA and Wofford from the Southern Conference and travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Belk Kickoff against NC State from the ACC.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:00 p.m.	vs. NC State*		Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (Belk Kickoff Game)	ESPN	W 35–28	50,367
September 9	7:00 p.m.	at Missouri		Faurot Field Columbia, MO (Mayor's Cup, SEC Nation)	ESPN2	W 31–13	55,023
September 16	7:30 p.m.	Kentucky		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	L 13–23	82,493
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 17–16	71,821
September 30	7:30 p.m.	at Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX	SECN	L 17–24	96,430
October 7	4:00 p.m.	Arkansas		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 48–22	79,416
October 14	12:00 p.m.	at Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	ESPN	W 15–9	98,104
October 28	4:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 34–27	78,992
November 4	3:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Georgia		Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	CBS	L 10–24	92,746
November 11	12:00 p.m.	Florida		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	CBS	W 28–20	79,727
November 18	4:00 p.m.	No. 7 (FCS) Wofford*		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 31–10	74,742
November 25	7:30 p.m.	No. 3 Clemson*	No. 24	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl / SEC Nation)	ESPN	L 10–34	82,908
January 1, 2018	12:00 p.m.	vs. Michigan*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN2	W 26–19	45,687
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 31 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule source:^[6]

Roster

2017 South Carolina Gamecocks football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Deebo Samuel  Jr WR 3 K. C. Crosby  Jr QB 4 Darius Douglas Fr RB 5 Rico Dowdle  So WR 6 Terry Googer  Jr WR 8 Randrecous Davis  Fr WR 9 Jerad Washington  So QB 10 Jay Urich Fr QB 12 Michael Scarnecchia  Jr WR 13 Shi Smith Fr QB 15 Drew Dinsmore Fr QB 16 Bailey Hart  Fr QB 17 Danny Gordon  Jr WR 18 Ortre Smith Fr QB 19 Jake Bentley So WR 24 Garrett Frederick  Fr RB 25 A. J. Turner  So RB 27 Ty'Son Williams  So RB 31 Slade Carroll Fr RB 32 Caleb Kinlaw  Jr RB 34 Mon Denson  So RB 36 C. J. Freeman  Fr TE 39 Parker Rankin  Fr TE 40 Jacob August  Jr TE 41 Caleb Jenerette Fr OL 50 Sadarius Hutcherson  Fr OL 51 Cory Helms  Sr OL 55 Christian Pellage  So OL 60 Chandler Farrell  Fr OL 61 Cameron Johnson  Fr OL 63 Blake Camper Jr OL 66 Will Putnam  Fr OL 67 Ryan Green  So OL 69 D. J. Park  Sr OL 70 Alan Knott  Sr OL 71 Eric Douglas Fr OL 72 Donell Stanley  Jr OL 73 Summie Carlay Fr OL 74 Dennis Daley Jr OL 75 Jordan Carty Fr OL 76 Jordan Rhodes Fr OL 77 Malik Young  Jr OL 78 Zack Bailey Jr OL 79 Trey Derouen  So WR 80 Shemar Glenn  So TE 81 Hayden Hurst Jr TE 82 Evan Hinson  Fr WR 83 Chavis Dawkins So TE 84 Kyle Markway  So WR 85 Devin Dingle  So WR 86 Chad Terrell Fr TE 87 Kiel Pollard So TE 88 Will Register Fr WR 89 Bryan Edwards So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 3 Chris Lammons Sr LB 4 Bryson Allen-Williams Sr DL 5 Keir Thomas So LB 6 T. J. Brunson So DB 7 Jamarcus King Sr DL 8 D. J. Wonnum So DB 9 Keisean Nixon Jr LB 10 Skai Moore  Sr LB 11 Eldridge Thompson  Jr DB 12 Kaleb Chalmers  So DL 15 Aaron Sterling Fr DB 16 Rashad Fenton Jr DB 17 Javon Charleston  So DL 19 Brad Johnson Fr DB 21 Jamyest Williams Fr DB 22 Steven Montac Jr DB 23 Korey Banks So DB 24 D. J. Smith Sr DB 26 Jaylin Dickerson Fr DB 28 Tavyn Jackson Fr LB 29 Antoine Wilder  So LB 30 Damani Staley Fr DB 33 Zay Brown Fr DB 34 Scott Grant  Jr DL 35 Daniel Fennell  So LB 36 Sean McGonigal Fr DB 39 Demetrius Smalls  Sr DB 40 Jason Senn  So LB 44 Sherrod Greene Fr LB 45 Spencer Eason-Riddle  Fr DB 47 Jaylan Foster So DL 50 Griffin Gentry  Fr LB 53 Mitch Langford  Jr LB 54 Davonne Bowen Fr DE 57 Jazunne Outlaw  Fr LB 58 Cole Davis Fr LB 59 Alex DeLoach Fr DL 61 Javion Duncan  Jr DL 90 Taylor Stallworth Sr DL 91 Shameik Blackshear  So DL 93 Ulric Jones  Sr DL 94 M. J. Webb Fr DL 95 Dante Sawyer Sr DL 96 Aaron Thompson  Fr DL 97 Kobe Smith So DL 99 Javon Kinlaw So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K/P 20 Joseph Charlton  So K 42 Alexander Woznick  Fr K/P 43 Parker White  Fr LS 45 Ben Asbury  Jr LS 46 Harrison Freeman  Fr K/P 47 Austin Snow Fr LS 49 Matthew Smith Fr K 62 Brandon Chiazza Fr	Head coach Will Muschamp Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Further information: 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	—	—	RV
Coaches	—	RV	RV	—	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	24	—	—	Not released