Sports Illustrated Ranks USC #7

(WOLO) — The Gamecocks come in #7 in this year’s Sports Illustrated college football preview edition that hit newsstands Wednesday. The team preview was done by senior writer Andy Staples and includes a breakdown of the teams top players, as well as a look at this year‘s key recruit (Shaq Roland) and this year‘s expected breakout player (Jadeveon Clowney). Staples writes of the Gamecocks, “Steve Spurrier‘s Fun ‘n‘ Gun is gone, replaced by a zone-read, ball-control scheme. It might sound a little dire, certainly a little strange, but combined with an athletic defense, it‘s an offense that can win big in today‘s ground-and-pound SEC. Tailback Marcus Lattimore returns from a torn ACL, and quarterback Connor Shaw—who started the final eight games after erratic gunslinger Stephen Garcia was kicked off the team for a rules violation—should be even better this fall. Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward, who will run the D now that Ellis Johnson has departed to be head coach at Southern Miss, has a toy box of a line that includes twin towers Jadeveon Clowney (6′”ˆ6″) and Devin Taylor (6′”ˆ8″) at end.”