In less than a week, all the buzz about how much South Carolina’s offensive line has improved will be put to the test.
After a year in which the Gamecocks were abysmal up front, many are expecting this group to be much better in 2024. There’s reason to believe they can be, too. While majority of last year’s line returns, there are also enough new faces to where it doesn’t feel completely rehashed.
So far in the preseason, there’s been a noticeable difference in what the players and coaches have seen.
“It’s completely different,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “Compared to the first series of the North Carolina game last year, I think that the overall philosophy of the program has helped because we’ve been able to stay healthy and there have been a lot of changes that way from the way Coach Beamer runs the schedule, to the way the strength staff does things, the more modality and recovery things that we’ve done with these guys, and the options that are available to them.”
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The biggest issue for the O-line last year was health. Every week, it was always a big question of what the front five would look like heading into games because it was constantly changing. There were more injuries than anyone could count. But this year, they’ve managed to stay on the field in that regard.
As of right now, the Gamecocks should only be down to O-linemen going into the season. At Thursday’s Carolina Calls, Shane Beamer revealed Aaryn Parks and Jakai Moore would be out for a while with injuries.
Other than that, the group seems to be in good shape. And that all goes back to the work they’ve put in to correct last year’s problems.
“We did make that an important part of the offseason and training camp to get to this point where we’re healthy and we’re ready to go,” Loggains said. “So we’re still continuing to work on that.”
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With mostly everyone healthy, there’s been an opportunity for more competition up front. Sure, South Carolina should have some starters locked in, but it seems to have been a real battle with a lot of players performing well.
“I’d say they’re working harder than anybody on the team,” Davis Beville said. “If you’ve heard, they stayed through the month of May. They took that time when we had off and really grinded their butts off. I got to hand it to them, those guys are playing their tails off. I’m excited to see what happens this year.”
Even with all the competition, there’s a tighter bond between the O-linemen. Part of it has to do with everyone staying healthier this year compared to last. But there’s also a sense of belief they can put last year’s struggles to rest and move forward.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Vershon Lee said. “Not saying the last O-line wasn’t a brotherhood, but the last O-line was a little banged up. So this year, we’ve been focused a lot on making sure our body is good and making sure we can make it through the season seamlessly and having continuity throughout every group and every person.”
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