Muschamp is well aware of challenges schedule will bring
HOOVER, Ala. — Guess what?
South Carolina has a really difficult football schedule this season that includes the touted trio of Alabama, Clemson and Georgia.
Guess what else? Fourth-year Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp knows it and has heard plenty about it.
“I’m not worried about the schedule. I’m worried about the Gamecocks,” Muschamp said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “I’m worried about the things that we can control. I think that’s why you come to a place like South Carolina or you come to the Southeastern Conference, to play against the best and be in the limelight every week and have great opportunities every single Saturday.”
Muschamp is 22-17 with the Gamecocks, with those 22 victories marking the most for a coach in program history through his first three seasons. He is 0-6 so far against Clemson and Georgia by the average score of 40-16, and Alabama is appearing on the schedule for the first time since 2010.
South Carolina went 9-4 in 2017 but slid to 7-6 last year, when the Gamecocks lost a 31-14 lead at Florida and were blanked by Virginia in the Belk Bowl. They look to rebound from that 28-0 loss with the senior trio of quarterback Jake Bentley, running back Rico Dowdle and receiver Bryan Edwards.
“The schedule is hard every year,” Muschamp said. “We have a great opportunity to step forward as a program and take advantage of the opportunities we have in front of us. In my opinion, we have our best team coming back in South Carolina since I have been there, and we’re looking forward to that opportunity.”
Muschamp, a former Georgia safety and former Florida head coach, was asked whether the Bulldogs and Gators should continue to vie at a neutral site.
“I would love to see it stay in Jacksonville,” he responded. “I’ve been on both sides of it, obviously, and based on my understanding when I was at Florida, it’s a better revenue situation for both schools to have it there. What’s really good about college football is the uniqueness of it, and that game is part of it.
“I was a part of the Texas-Oklahoma game there at the (Dallas) fairgrounds, and it’s the same situation. I hope they don’t go to home-andhome, personally.”
A vote for Jackonsville
Defending Shoop
Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop was a Broyles Award finalist last season, when the Bulldogs led the nation in fewest yards allowed (263.1) and ranked second to Clemson in fewest points allowed (13.2). Shoop spent the 2017 season on Tennessee’s sinking ship under Butch Jones, with those Volunteers yielding 29.1 points per contest.
“I know there was some kind of scuttlebutt and question marks of what happened at Tennessee, but Bob grew up in the town next to me,” Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said. “I have known him for a very long time. To me, one season or two never defines a coach’s ability or what he’s done over an extended period of time.
“Bob is incredibly intelligent. He takes input from his guys, puts a plan together and dials it up pretty well on game day. His challenge now will be our ability to reload rather than rebuild because we lost so many critical pieces, but I’m confident that he and his staff will put us in position entering the season.”
Back to the future
Earlier this month, Arkansas announced it would wear uniforms similar to a decade ago, when Razorbacks running back Darren McFadden was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2006 and ’07 and the ’07 team played in the Cotton Bowl.
The new look has been well-received by Arkansas fans.
“It’s a great look, isn’t it?” second-year Razorbacks coach Chad Morris said. “I guess I was at Arkansas a week or two, and I got with my equipment group and asked how can we get back to that uniform. To me, that was a traditional look, but the way the process happens is you have to order things a year or a yearand-a-half out.
“We’re going to wear them every opportunity we can get, and as we move forward in our program, as long as I’m a part of it, that’s the look I want to have.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress. com or 423-757-6524.