South Carolina vs. N.C. State: Gamecocks depth chart, Will Muschamp press conference, and more

Depth Chart

No major surprises on the offensive depth chart.

QB: Jake Bentley starting, Michael Scarnecchia the backup. That was the expectation.

WR: Deebo Samuel - Bryan Edwards - Shi Smith will be the look on three-wide sets while Terry Googer and OrTre Smith will back up Samuel and Edwards.

TE: Hayden Hurst and Jacob August, backed up by Kiel Pollard and K.C. Crosby. Likely that Will Register gets the redshirt when it’s all said and done. We may see a good deal of two TE sets on Saturday.

RB: The situation between Rico Dowdle, A.J. Turner and Ty’son Williams looks to be too close to call at this point; although Dowdle will start on Saturday, it will be a running back by committee at least for now.

I was really impressed with Dowdle and liked what I saw from Turner in early season action, but while the jury’s still out on Williams since he simply hasn’t played a whole lot, the fact that he’s well within the RB competition speaks volumes.

OL: Malik Young - Donell Stanley - Alan Knott - Cory Helms - Zack Bailey from left to right. Dennis Daley, Sadarius Hutcherson, Chandler Farrell, Blake Camper, and D.J. Park are the backups. Muschamp said that he felt good about the backup group.

With that said, probably one of the big concerns is at RT - Eric Wolford has said that the level of competition behind Zack Bailey had not been consistent. Whether that improves over the course of the year remains to be seen.

DE: Dante Sawyer OR Keir Thomas at one end, D.J. Wonnum starting at other end with Daniel Fennell as backup. Thomas had a great camp and was able to work his way into the discussion, so we’ll see what’s in store for the true sophomore as he and Sawyer push each other.

DT: Taylor Stallworth and Ulric Jones starting; Kobe Smith and Javon Kinlaw second-string...for now. Don’t be surprised to see Kinlaw get heavy time in the rotation. Jones and Stallworth, by the way, combine for 617 pounds of big-time mass in the middle of the line.

LB: Bryson Allen-Williams (SAM), T.J. Brunson (MIKE), Skai Moore (WILL). Man, is it good to see Skai back on the game week depth chart. Backup LBs Eldridge Thompson and Sherrod Greene were mentioned during Muschamp’s press conference as players he’s very high on in 2017.

Secondary: Jamarcus King and Rashad Fenton (CB), D.J. Smith and Chris Lammons (S). Jamyest Williams will backup at CB and start at nickel.

On N.C. State

Obviously, the Wolfpack defensive line, led by Bradley Chubb, came up. It will certainly be a baptism by fire for the offensive front as they look to hold up well against a solid group.

Jaylen Samuels, the tight end, came up as well. The senior made 55 catches for 565 yards and seven touchdowns last year and ran for nine more.

Injuries

No Dreak Davis or Tavyn Jackson. Steven Montac “should be available”, according to Muschamp.

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