The 2016 South Carolina football team was a flawed mess that was very fortunate to even get to a bowl game last year. They slugged out some ugly (and lucky) wins over Vanderbilt (13-10), ECU (20-15), and UMass (34-28) that helped float the team to the six win threshold and gain bowl eligibility. Actually, if not for those first three wins, that 2016 South Carolina team could have started 0-7, which might have people feeling quite differently about the early stages of the Will Muschamp era in Columbia.
South Carolina has a chance to take a huge step forward in 2017, with the majority of that opportunity coming from what should be an improved offensive unit.