Gamecock stock watch: Who’s up, who’s down for South Carolina heading into Week 2

Shane Beamer will remind anyone who will listen that South Carolina is 1-0.

The Gamecocks are heading into Week 2 without a loss. Clemson can’t say the same thing. Neither can LSU or Florida.

In its season opener, South Carolina narrowly escaped disaster, beating Old Dominion 23-19. Was it a little too close for comfort? Yes. Will it be marked down as a win? Also yes. But in the court of public opinion, wins don’t all count the same.

Many, including Vegas’ oddmakers, watched the Gamecocks nearly lose to a Sun Belt squad and lost confidence in Beamer’s squad. Here’s our stock report as South Carolina gets ready to play Kentucky on Saturday.

STOCK UP

Kyle Kennard/Dylan Stewart

It’s been one game and Kyle Kennard, the Georgia Tech transfer, and true freshman Dylan Stewart are already getting the Lennon/McCartney grouping treatment. But it’s hard to talk about one without mentioning the other. Against Old Dominion, the pair combined for 9 tackles, 6 TFLs, 4 sacks and 4 forced fumbles, bullying ODU’s offensive line all day. We knew they’d be good, but Saturday was another level. It was dominance that usually doesn’t show up Week 1, that usually doesn’t show up from two guys and definitely doesn’t come from two newcomers.

Time management

South Carolina didn’t get enough first downs. It kicked too many field goals. It missed on its big plays. But the Gamecocks controlled the clock all day. It ran the ball 56 times and had possession for nearly 36 minutes. The big help, of course, was four turnovers from the Gamecocks defense. But if Brady Hunt’s touchdown on the fake field goal isn’t called back for an ineligible man downfield or Jared Brown doesn’t drop a wide open pass, perhaps South Carolina rolls to a blowout victory. Against better teams, South Carolina might choose to shorten the game. Run the ball. Limit possessions. Trust you’ll score touchdowns. South Carolina needs to work on getting into the end zone. Otherwise, the blueprint was solid in the opener.

STOCK DOWN

The wide receiver corps

The Gamecocks’ pass catchers were the big question mark coming into the season. On Saturday, they weren’t a question mark. They were a liability. The USC wide-outs caught just six passes, dropped a number of balls and, in the words of Beamer, were “atrocious” in perimeter blocking. Not one guy had more than two catches and South Carolina never even attempted an offensive pass into the end zone. It didn’t seem like quarterback LaNorris Sellers or offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains were comfortable with the pass catchers.

Third-down defense

Offenses playing against South Carolina last year weren’t too concerned if they got to 3rd down. No reason to fret, teams converted 43% of the time against USC. Which brings us to Saturday. The problem has yet to be fixed. Old Dominion moved the chains on half of their 3rd downs (9-18) — and that doesn’t include ODU quarterback scoring a 36-yard touchdown on fourth down. The problem wasn’t necessarily on third downs, but that the Gamecocks gave ODU very-manageable situations. In the fourth quarter, the Monarchs faced seven fourth downs, six of which were third and 3 or shorter. That’s not a recipe for success.

HOLDING STEADY

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers

The market has yet to make a call on Sellers. The redshirt freshman quarterback, making his first career start, was not other-wordily, as many fans were expecting. He rushed 22 times for 68 yards and completed just 10 of 23 passes for 114 yards. A good number of those incompletions were poor passes but, heck, it’s hard to not consider how his stats would have looked if Brown catches an 84-yard touchdown in the first quarter. There needs to be improvement, especially in the passing game, against Kentucky for Sellers to avoid his stock dropping.

Kicker Alex Herrera

The vibes around South Carolina’s kickers weren’t exactly encouraging coming out of preseason camp. In a position battle that lasted weeks, Herrera — a sixth-year senior who had never attempted a college field goal — won out. Little was known about him and with little information comes little confidence. But against Old Dominion, he hit 3 of 4 field goals. He connected from 40, 46 and 33 yards but missed a 48-yarder late in the third quarter. It was an encouraging first game, but more still needs to be seen.