Gamecocks Confident Without Samuel

By Scott Ratcliffe

South Carolina’s talked-about, up-tempo, pass-happy offense will be missing a key piece in Deebo Samuel for Saturday’s Belk Bowl against Virginia Saturday, but the Gamecocks are downplaying the star receiver’s absence.

Samuel, a 6-foot, 210-pound redshirt senior who announced Dec. 3 that he would be preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft and therefore would not be participating in the bowl game, was the top weapon through the air this season for SC junior quarterback Jake Bentley.

Samuel, also the team’s leading kick returner who averaged 123.2 all-purpose yards a game, led the Gamecocks in receptions (62), receiving yards (882), receiving touchdowns (11) and receiving yards per game (73.5). He scored on a 90-yard kickoff return and even threw a touchdown pass this season.

Still, without Samuel, South Carolina has complete and total confidence in Bryan Edwards, Shi Smith and the rest of the receiving corps to collectively step up at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte this weekend in his stead.

“Obviously it’s different just because he’s not there,” Edwards said of Samuel, “you kind of just miss him being him, and being in the meeting rooms and being that presence.”

Samuel’s reason for skipping the Belk Bowl is simple: a projected early-round draft choice, he was concerned about the possibility of reaggravating the fibula injury that limited him to just three games last season, hindering his chances to ultimately play professionally and provide for his family. He also played just five games while battling with hamstring issues in his redshirt freshman season in 2015.

His coaches, teammates and even the opposition have all stated that they understand Samuel’s decision and respect it.

Virginia senior DB Juan Thornhill feels there won’t be much of a dropoff, despite Samuel’s talent.

“Watching film on him, he’s a heck of a player,” Thornhill said of Samuel, “so it’s going to affect them just a little bit, but it’s not going to have that much of an effect on them because they’re a good team and there’s always someone that’s willing to step up and make the same amount of plays that he was making, so we don’t think it’s going to be any different.”

So who will step up for Will Muschamp and his NASCAR-style offense come Saturday? As mentioned, Edwards and Smith are both capable options, as is freshman Josh Vann, while tight ends Kiel Pollard and K.C. Crosby should both be considered dangerous as well.

“I think the first day it was strange to everyone not having [Samuel] out there for sure and kind of missing that piece to us, but I think all the guys responded well, and it’s looked good,” Bentley said of what practice has been like without Samuel. “Guys are getting open, Josh is stepping up and playing some more plays and then I think Kiel and K.C. have also stepped up and taken over some slot reps, and moving Shi outside. So a lot of guys have stepped up and have played really well.”

Edwards was not far behind Samuel in terms of numbers this season. The 6-3, 220-pound junior had just 10 fewer catches than Samuel and also eclipsed the 800-yard plateau with 809 on the year. He caught seven touchdown passes and averaged 15.6 yards per reception (Samuel averaged 14.2) and 67.4 per contest. Edwards’ season high came against Georgia when he racked up 111 yards.

Smith, a sophomore, caught 39 passes for 597 yards and four TDs. Pollard and Crosby combined for just 26 catches for 282 yards on the season, but the ‘Hoos must keep an eye on both. Vann didn’t see a ton of action but added 18 grabs for 118 yards and a score, and his role is expected to increase moving forward.

When asked if Samuel’s absence will shift the defense’s focus onto him, Edwards said that “only time will tell.”

“Each team has different gameplans for things, how they scheme it up and things like that,” Edwards said. “I don’t think it particularly makes me a bigger target, just because we’ve got a lot of weapons on our offense and we spread the ball around anyway.”

Bentley struggled at times throughout the season but completed 64 percent of his passes for just shy of 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns on the season. He was recently asked about going up against Bryce Hall and the Virginia secondary.

“He’s a great player,” Bentley said of Hall. “He’s very instinctual. You’ll see a receiver kinda get open and him just close the distance and go make a play. That’s what great DBs do — they find a way to get back in the play and you see that time and time again from him, and then their defense as a whole, they do a lot.

“A lot of different coverages, they do a great job of mixing it up and understanding how to disguise different coverages, so it’s going to be a great challenge for us, in preparation, to get a feel for what they want to do.”

Thornhill said he’s been watching all the film of Bentley and the Gamecocks he can — particularly the Clemson game when the Tigers gave up a school record with Bentley’s career-best 510 passing yards and five touchdowns — ever since the loss to Virginia Tech a little over a month ago.

“I’ve been watching [that game] all the time because Coach told us they threw for 500 yards on Clemson,” Thornhill said. “It kind of shocked me and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ So I started watching that game, just started watching every pass play, every run play, so I can pretty much know what’s going on when I’m out there.”

Samuel went for 210 yards and three TDs in that 56-35 loss to Clemson, and then followed it up with two more receiving touchdowns and a fumble recovery in the end zone for six in the make-up win over Akron on Dec. 1.

The Gamecocks don’t throw it a ton to running backs, but that could possibly be a wrinkle used to catch the Wahoos off guard. Rico Dowdle, the team’s leading rusher, caught just 13 passes all season, while backfield mate Ty’Son Williams hauled in nine.

For UVA senior linebacker Chris Peace and the Cavalier defense, the focus and top priority will remain containing the ground game. As Peace pointed out, Virginia struggled in defending the run in each of the team’s five losses.

“I would say every game we lost this year, I would blame it on the run game,” Peace admitted.

While Carolina’s rushing numbers may not necessarily wow anyone on paper, Peace says the ground game cannot be overlooked.

“First, we’ve got to stop the run, that’s been a point of emphasis the whole year,” said Peace. “[The Gamecocks’] run game is real capable, they definitely capped off a few long runs on the year. Their O-line is strong at the point of attack. If you’re not careful, they can run it down your throat just as easy.”

Back in July, Peace talked about the importance of not only getting back to a bowl game, but winning one when he spoke to the media at Charlotte’s Westin Hotel for ACC Kickoff, just down the street from where he’ll play his final game as a Wahoo Saturday afternoon. There’s no other way he and the other seniors would want to close out their UVA careers.