We polled South Carolina fans on 2016 win total, the QB battle, and whether a hot dog’s a sandwich or not

So Red Cup Rebellion did a survey a few days back on various topics, among them being how many wins Ole Miss would get in 2016. Short answer: a lot of them think that the Rebels will win nine games or more. So we decided to do our own, and while we didn’t quite get to the 214 respondents they received, we got a good sample size of 82.

Our survey featured three questions:

—Gamecocks’ win total in 2016

—Starting quarterback against Vandy on September 1

—Hot dog - sandwich or no? (Because of course)

Here’s what we found.

2016 win total

A good chunk of the polled (65%, or 53 out of 82) feel that six or seven wins is the baseline for this team in 2016. Pretty fair. They’re not going to challenge for a division title out of the gate, but six wins (and possibly an upset to make it seven. Georgia? Tennessee?) is a good start and would be miles ahead of where this team was last year. As has been mentioned here on the site, if recruits see that Muschamp is making significant progress, they’ll feel more compelled to come and be a part of what’s next. (No way they’ll get to nine. Sorry, one person who picked nine.)

The starter against Vandy

Sixty-five percent think Brandon McIlwain will be the starting quarterback against Vanderbilt in six weeks. Hard to say whether this is a clear indication of who they think will actually start vs. who they want to start. (Why do I get the feeling we’ll see a #NeverOrth sign, a la #NeverTrump, for the home opener?) Surprisingly, a suddenly-eligible, 71-year-old (and former Heisman winner) Steve Spurrier picked up the same number of votes as Bentley and Nunez combined.

Then there’s this

SEVENTY-THREE (!) percent of those polled don’t feel that a hot dog is a sandwich. See? Issue solved, everyone. (It’s not a sandwich, by the way. Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments.)

So, to sum things up:

—While no one’s expecting the Gamecocks to set the world on fire in 2016, most of them have realistic observations. I don’t think that we’re in store for a long, slow rebuild like some people do. An aggressive approach to recruiting and proper coaching will get this program on the right track. So far, Muschamp’s ticked off one of those boxes here.

—I have to reiterate that the fact that McIlwain led Orth in the poll by a wide margin could be that people simply want McIlwain to start over Orth. At this point, I feel that McIlwain is the better quarterback of the two and am leaning toward the assumption that he will start against Vandy. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Orth, simply since he has more experience.

—A hot dog’s not a sandwich.

Comments, concerns, etc. are below. For those that participated, thanks for voting your conscience.