The 5-4 South Carolina Gamecocks find themselves entering this weekend at an intriguing and unexpected place: knocking on the door of bowl eligibility.
After a 2-8 COVID-altered campaign that came on the heels of a similarly sad 4-8 mark, no one expected a miracle out of these Gamecocks, who lost a load of talent to attrition and are under a new, first-year head coach in every sense of the word. When the first half of 2021 started with nailbiting wins against the likes of ECU and Troy, and eventually included a last-gasp escape against woeful Vanderbilt sandwiched around multiple blowout losses, you could be forgiven for writing this off as a season of taking your lumps and hoping something comes out of it eventually.