TFP: Five days and rising.
Team Speed Kills: SEC Football Preview 2014: South Carolina's Schedule Features Bookends. Brandon notes that something old may be new again this season: "... this is the first time that the Gamecocks have faced something like the Orange Crush since 2009. Getting an extra bye week between the revenge game against Tennessee and the trip to Gainesville should help out a bit when it comes to squaring off against the Gators on the road, but the 2010 victory in the Swamp remains the only time South Carolina has won there in 14 tries." We should fight like hell not be stuck with Son-of-Orange-Crush going forward. Of course, that would require Dr. Pastides to fight for fair scheduling for USC, rather than doing so many interviews and such.
Garnet & Cocky: Sydney posts his South Carolina Gamecocks Football Countdown: Five Days.
The State: Allen-Williams was born to play USC’s BOB linebacker spot.
ESPN SEC Blog: David Ching is Grading each SEC QB situation. Well-written, but the analysis is pretty derivative of the conventional wisdom. Dylan will have to make his statement the old-fashioned way - on the field.
NBC College Football Talk: John Taylor runs down the good, the bad and the unknown for CFT Preseason Top 25: No. 7 South Carolina.
Int'l Business Times: Texas A&M Aggies Vs. South Carolina Gamecocks 2014: Early Prediction, Preview And Betting Odds.
247: Breaking down USC-A&M, Jeff Tarpley says Personnel More Important Than Scheme When Defending The Spread.
Gamecock Pride: Amber posts a great video essay on the friendship between Nick Jones and Dylan Thompson - Broken Bones Heal into Lasting Friendship.
Charlotte Observer: College Football: SEC Preview. Carolina is a contender.
Saturday Down South: SEC Subplots: Can South Carolina avoid the inevitable letdown game? It's a fair question.
Gamecock Cereal: Rixon shows his humorous side - 5 (Somewhat) Burning Questions. He sets the over/under wayyyyyyyyy to low in question # 5.
Gamecocksonline: Top Moments of the Spurrier Era - #1. I'd feel a lot better about the 2010 Bama game if we hadn't laid a complete egg the next weekend at Commonwealth Stadium - one of the worst moments in the HBC's tenure at Carolina. (Warning - extremely disturbing Jack Links beef jerky advert comes first).
The Big Spur: College football mailbag: Week one is almost here. Pete Roussel doesn't think Sumlin will be the one to snap our home winning streak, but I am afraid A&M is going to be a much bigger test that many pundits are crediting them. If any SEC squad has a current unknown who will be a future household name, the safe bet would be the Aggies - who have dominated on the recruiting trail.
Athlon: College Football 2014 Conference and National Title Predictions (you have to scroll down) and from Wednesday - The SEC's Top 20 Must-See Games of 2014. Four games by my count and three in the top 10. The Aggie game is an honorable mention which I think is seriously underselling it.
Rock Hill Herald: Ex Gamecock Tanner McEvoy tabbed as UW starter at QB, sources say. Good luck to him - the B1G is wide open.
The Rubber Chickens: Buckshots: 2013 Gamecock Flashback.
Bleacher Report: South Carolina Football: Depth Chart Analysis, Complete Preview and Predictions. Plus - SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Danny Wuerffel on Steve Spurrier's Offense. Also - number 6 on BR's College Football's Top 25 Tailgating Schools for 2014. Not bad but it is an insult to be ranked behind Clemmy.
San Antonio Express News: Swearinger, secondary face test in Denver. Swag is blowing it up - especially on Hard Knocks episode 3.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Steve Spurrier wishes Browns would put rookie QB Connor Shaw 'in hunt for starting job'. "Plenty of Browns fans are clamoring for more of rookie quarterback Connor Shaw after his thrilling fourth-quarter performance in Washington Monday night, and they won't get an argument from Shaw's former coach at South Carolina, Steve Spurrier." Mary Kay Cabot has been living on ESPN radio this pre-season. Wouldn't you have given anything for Hard Knocks to have been in Cleveland this year? The Browns play the Rams tonight. Get your popcorn.
49ers.com: Marcus still working on cutting (scroll down) - from Thursday.
NBC Pro Football Talk: Jadeveon Clowney is OK, but status for Saturday undecided - from late Thursday.
SB Nation: Do. Not. Miss. This. Ryan Nanni dredges up 21 terrifying old college mascots. "Your school might have a friendly looking mascot today, but it probably used to be a terrifying murder demon." Should we be thankful or sad Ryan didn't know about Big Spur?