COLUMBIA, S.C. — Equipped with one of the top receivers in college football, much is expected this season from Steve Spurrier’s offense at South Carolina — a gifted unit that includes All-SEC senior quarterback Stephen Garcia, the nation’s top freshman tailback a season ago in Marcus Lattimore and a veteran offensive line that returns three quality starters.

Matchup nightmare and Heisman candidate Alshon Jeffery may get all the publicity at wideout — and rightfully so — but the Gamecocks have plenty of talent that can haul in passes besides the player who is a projected lottery pick in next year’s NFL Draft.

Head coach Steve Spurrier recently said this year’s group of pass-catchers, top to bottom, is the best he’s had in Columbia and undoubtedly the Gamecocks’ deepest position throughout fall practice.

D.L. Moore and Jason Barnes return with experience to a talented nucleus of sure-handed receivers. Ace Sanders provided a spark for the offense last season from the slot and should get plenty of playing time again in the balanced attack. Many fans remember Barnes’ splash into college football in a 2008 win at Ole Miss.

Barnes looked the part of a big-time receiver with seven receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been inconsistent since but has shown a rejuvenated spirit this spring.

Lamar Scruggs, a 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., saw time sparingly a year ago and was used as a decoy in the closing seconds of the Gamecocks’ upset loss at Kentucky.

Scruggs tried leaping for a fade pass from Stephen Garcia, but had the ball tipped and wrestled away for an interception by Anthony Mosley. He should cross the goal line with better results this fall.

Return man Bryce Sherman and possession receiver Tori Gurley are no longer on the team. Sherman quit in July while Gurley tested his luck this spring in the NFL Draft. He recently signed an undrafted rookie contract with the Green Bay Packers.

The exit of Gurley, a starter with 44 catches for 465 yards last season, leaves a void that can be filled by a number of new additions.

The gem of South Carolina’s influx of talented newcomers is Bruce Ellington, an every-snap athlete from Moncks Corner, S.C., who decided on football this fall after spending his freshman season as the Gamecocks’ starting point guard.

The multi-sport talent averaged 12.8 points and 3.2 assists per game on the hardwood for a team that finished at the bottom of the SEC East. Ellington was given the OK from hoops coach Darrin Horn after the season to meet with football coach Steve Spurrier after he felt a burning to return to the gridiron.

Spurrier welcomed the idea of seeing Ellington in a helmet.

As a senior at Berkeley High School, Ellington piled up 2,878 all-purpose yards and 23 touchdowns under center for the state-champion Stags. He’ll see playing time this season for the SEC East favorite on special teams and has also taken snaps in Spurrier’s rendition of the Wildcat formation. Listed on South Carolina’s official roster at 197 pounds and under six feet tall, Ellington packs quite a punch with his compact, athletic frame. Ellington, Sanders, All-SEC cornerback Stephon Gilmore and D.J. Swearinger are expected to share return duties.

Another quick receiver, freshman Damiere Byrd from Sicklerville, N.J., is fast — Tennessee Titans and former East Carolina running back Chris Johnson fast.

Byrd recorded the fastest time ever in the 40-yard dash at a Nike SPARQ combine in Philadelphia as a prep senior, covering almost half a football field in 4.26 seconds. At Nike football combines, the event is timed using digital technology — no stop watches, no human error.

Small in size at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, Byrd will play in the slot for the Gamecocks and could become one of the SEC’s fastest players over his career.

Think Florida’s Jeff Demps — with hands.

Jeffery should still enjoy an 85-catch, 1,500-yard season, but his fellow pass-catchers could alleviate some strain with a few sure touchdowns of their own.

Wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. says six wideouts will have a chance to play at some point this season for the Gamecocks.

The six that will most likely travel with South Carolina for the season opener against ECU are Jeffery, Moore, Barnes, Sanders, Lamar Scruggs and DeAngelo Smith. Byrd and Ellington will be in uniform in different packages unless the two-deep changes over these next three weeks.

Looking ahead to 2012, the Gamecocks already have commitments from three wide receivers including four-star speedster Shaq Roland out of Lexington, S.C. He gave a verbal commitment to the Gamecocks on July 9 and is the top-ranked player from the Palmetto State according to Rivals.com.

Following a difficult season on the defensive side of the ball for Kentucky, the Wildcats brought in new co-defensive coordinator Rick Minter to teach his system with hopes that it will help the Cats to slow down the high-powered offenses of the SEC. Despite returning their top 11 tacklers from a year ago, UK has spent all offseason learning Minter’s schemes on defense, trying to prepare for a new season. Here are five names to look out for this year on defense for Kentucky in Minter’s new system.

1) Danny Trevathan – This was an easy one. Seriously? Trevathan led the SEC in tackles in 2010 with 145, and is slated to repeat that feat again in 2011. Many expect him to have an All-American caliber year for the Cats, who desperately need their hard hitting linebacker to step up big for them again this year. There is no tackle Trevathan can’t make. He has the speed of some strong safeties with the physicality of a linebacker and the instinct and fundamentals of a pro. Now a fourth-year junior, Trevathan will have to show he can be just as much of a leader off the field as he is on it, and will likely have to carry the defense for parts of the season. But if anyone can do it, the Wildcats are confident Trevathan can.

2) Winston Guy Jr. – One of UK’s best athletes, Guy stands to gain the most from Minter’s new system. With more speed, strength, athleticism and playmaking ability than any other player on Kentucky’s roster, with coverage instincts comparable to a baby chimpanzee, Guy should have more opportunities to play in the box closer to the line of scrimmage under Minter. Guy recorded 106 tackles in 2010, second on the team to Trevathan. As a safety, Guy made most of his tackles either cleaning up poorly defended running plays or blown coverage in the secondary. Now, Guy will have to worry less about dropping back into coverage as a safety, something he has done inconsistently throughout his career to say the least, and will be able to spend more time in the thick of things blowing up run plays from the start or patrolling the middle ready to knock someone’s head off. If Guy is doing his homework and learning Minter’s new system, he should be a star in the SEC in his senior season.

3) Ronnie Sneed – Sneed is the most veteran, mature defender in Kentucky’s program. Entering his second season with the team as a graduate student (Sneed graduated from UK in 2009 with two years of eligibility remaining) Sneed has seen it all in the SEC. Reports are that no one is farther along in learning the new defense than Sneed, who acts as a vocal leader for the defense both on and off the field, as well as a mentor for younger players. A linebacker playing alongside Trevathan, Sneed is certainly not afraid of contact, and loves to get his nose in the middle of things, recording 60 tackles in 2010. But more valuable than his play on the field are his presence and leadership capabilities in the weight room, the film room and the locker room. That is where Sneed will make most of his impact in 2011.

4) The defensive line – Last season, UK got almost no production out of their guys up front on defense. With hardly any pressure on the quarterback, and a very limited push up front to close running lanes, UK had trouble creating turnovers in 2010, or even getting their defense off the field for that matter. It’s going to take a more determined effort from the line as a whole if they want to help the team win on Saturdays this fall. Guys to look out for on the line are defensive ends Collins Ukwu and Taylor Wyndham, and defensive tackles Donte Rumph, Mister Cobble, Luke McDermott and Mark Crawford. If these big boys up front can hold their own this season, it will make all the difference for one of the SEC’s worst defenses from a season ago.

5) Randall Burden and Anthony Mosley – As Kentucky’s starting cornerbacks, Burden and Mosley will need to step up and shut down some of the conference’s most explosive playmakers on the outside, such South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffrey. With more pressure being brought up front, and an extra safety added to the back end of the defense, both Burden and Mosley should be put in good situations to succeed in coverage. Their senior leadership, like with Sneed, will also be beneficial to UK’s young defenders trying to learn a new system in a matter of months. Mosley and Burden have the potential to have breakthrough seasons in 2011 and show the Bluegrass how the Wildcats can play defense.

The University of Kentucky’s 2010 football season felt like a disappointment. A season which included a 25th consecutive loss to Florida, a 26th consecutive loss to Tennessee and a 27-10 shellacking at the hands’ of Pitt in the BBVA Compass Bowl, felt like a disappointment. The program’s first losing season since the senior class stepped foot on campus four years ago felt like a disappointment.

But Thursday, the Wildcats turned the page with the start of their preseason camp. Veterans arrived prepared to work hard toward a successful 2011, and a plethora of new faces arrived on campus for the first time, seeking to lay the foundation that second-year UK head football coach Joker Phillips hopes will take his team to the top of the SEC.

“I’m really excited. It’s my last year to really make a change on the program, to try to get us to a little bit of a better season than we have been,” said senior defensive back Anthony Mosley. “I’m really excited just to get started and get better for the season.”

Long forgotten are the days when a 4-8 record was enough to tide Big Blue Nation over until basketball season began. The Wildcats have reached six consecutive bowl games under Phillips and former UK head football coach Rich Brooks. But with great success comes great expectations, expectations that the Cats seemingly fell short of a year ago.

Add in the departure of the team’s starting quarterback, running back, fullback and top two receivers, as well as a brand new defensive scheme brought in by new UK co-defensive coordinator Rick Minter, and you have a Wildcats squad that is hungry to establish a new identity.

“We had the (defensive) films that they were supposed to be watching, and now it’s time to go in and see if everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing, which I’m pretty sure they have been,” said senior linebacker Ronnie Sneed, a vocal leader on UK’s defense. “It’s just time to put everything to the test.

“Really we try to scare the young guys. You know, ‘You may not make it out man, you might not make it out, so you better come prepared.’ We try to shake them up a little bit. But in all honesty, you just tell them it’s time to work hard and learn this defense.”

The core of veterans on the offensive side of the ball also assumed their leadership roles on day one of camp, including junior La’Rod King, who has more career catches than any other wide receiver on UK’s roster with 46 in two years.

“Camp determines whether you are ready for the season or not. You can talk all the stuff you want to now, but once you put pads on and get hit for the first time it’s like ‘Oh, okay, I know where I’m playing now. I’m playing in the SEC.’ “I take what I learned from Randall (Cobb, now of the Green Bay Packers) and Chris (Matthews) and those veteran guys last year and just apply it to the freshmen now, and just take the same steps that Randall took me in. It’s really just follow and repeat. A lot of guys are on board as a team, and a lot of the young guys, they are hungry, so we are going to see who is ready to play and who is not.”

But when asked what the biggest challenge was going into camp, the players were unanimous.

“It’s the heat, definitely the heat,” King said. “My cleats molded to the turf last year, I couldn’t move.”

“The only thing that you can never beat anywhere in the country is the heat,” Mosley said. “It’s just really hot. Sometimes you get a little more frustrated because of the heat, you get a little bit more fatigued than you normally would. That may be the only downfall.”

Well, almost unanimous.

“Me being from Georgia, the heat up here feels like fall, so this is not that bad for me,” said sophomore wide receiver Brian Adams. “It’s about 100 down there in Georgia right now so it’s not bad at all and I just have a good time with it.”

To truly appreciate the magnitude of this game, we must start with October 9th. South Carolina hosted the ESPN Game Day crew, Buzz Baker’s “SEC Tailgate Show,” and the eyes of the nation were on Columbia, for a highly anticipated matchup with the then #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Stephen Garcia led his team to a victory over the defending national champions by two scores. By Sunday, the Cackalacka hype was at a fever pitch. While the Rooster faithful snatched up Atlanta hotel rooms by the dozens, Coach Spurrier prepared his team for what he called the biggest game in the history of South Carolina football, a trip to Lexington to play the Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky, on the other hand, little deserved to be a party to such a game. The Wildcats beat an improving Louisville Cardinals team in week 1, but the following two victories were over teams that remain winless. The subsequent trip to Florida resulted in a 48-14 blowout loss to the then ranked #9 Gators. On Saturday, October 9th, Kentucky gave up 31 points to Auburn in the first half. While the Cats held the Tigers to just two field goals in the remainder of the ball game, the War Eagle prevailed 37-34. That Sunday, the Kentucky fan base grew increasingly negative, and despite showing promise in the latter part of the Auburn game, many began calling for the job of Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown. Mike Hartline found the familiar ire of the fans, in spite of entering the game as the second highest grossing quarterback in the league. If emotions were at an all time high in Columbia, tensions were skyrocketing in Lexington.

Less than an hour before kick off, noticeably few fans were in the stands of Commonwealth Stadium. While the stadium was near capacity at game time, absent was the collective hope that Kentucky would win the ball game. South Carolina’s first drive was reminiscent of the entire first half of the week before, with the Gamecocks scoring easily. This possession foreshadowed the first two quarters of the contest, and the Gamecocks entered the locker room with a commanding eighteen point lead.

The Mike Hartline, Steve Brown detractors started up their all too familiar song and dance, reveling in their ‘told you so’ attitudes. Hartline, who suffered a season ending knee injury in a game against the Gamecocks the year before, completed ten of his first ten pass attempts, but the Cats only found the end zone one time. While the much-maligned quarterback was on track to have a career game, you wouldn’t know it given the audible frustration of the home crowd.

At the 10:15 mark of the 3rd quarter, things changed in Lexington. The Wildcats were pinned down at their own five-yard line, following a great punt from Carolina’s Spencer Lanning. Hartline found wide out Chris Matthews on a third and long, and eleven plays later, Hartline went to La’Rod King to cap off a ninety-five yard drive.

Kentucky held the Gamecocks to a three and out the following series, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter Hartline found Matthews again for a thirty-eight yard score. After holding South Carolina to just five plays on the ensuing possession, Hartline, Cobb and company capped off a twelve play, sixty eight yard drive with another twenty four yard score, this time to Randall Cobb.

With only a sixty five seconds remaining, the widely criticized Kentucky defense held the #10 team in the country scoreless in the second half. When Kentucky’s Anthony Mosley intercepted Stephen Garcia in the Wildcat end zone, pure jubilation ensued. When only zeros remained on the game clock, it was readily apparent on the faces of the coaches Joker Phillips and Steve Brown. The two former professional football stars lit up with happiness, Phillips jumped on one player’s back, and Brown screamed with eyes wide open. It was if the tension and pressure of the previous three games were instantly lifted at that very moment. The home crowd was rocking, and the students were pouring onto the field. Kentucky was defeated no more.

The game began as a tale of two programs, but it ended as the story of two quarterbacks. Garcia, wearing garnet and black, cemented his fate as the guy that fans and Coach Spurrier were right about. As a result of all the criticism from fans, and lack of trust from his coaches, Garcia folded under the pressure. With time winding down, and the top wide receiver in the SEC in position to make a big play, all Garcia had to do was throw a touchdown, or throw an incomplete to set up a very makeable game tying field goal. Instead, he threw a game ending interception, Kentucky’s only red zone stop of the night. Stephen Garcia left the game as a man defeated.

In the blue and white, wearing number five, stood a man vindicated. After throwing a pass, under pressure to Randall Cobb for the game winning score, Mike Hartline laid on the ground pumping his fists, soaking up the much deserved, and long awaited, hero’s fanfare. Hartline, who completed 32 for 42 passes for 349 yards and four touchdowns, proved to be much more than a guy that the fans were wrong about – He proved that he was a winner. And as for that legacy – he still has five games and a bowl win to finish writing that.

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows accurately describes the South Carolina Gamecock football program and its fans at this moment. One week removed from the biggest victory in program history, the Gamecocks suffered maybe its most crucial loss of the season to Kentucky on the road. Head ball coach Steve Spurrier had never lost to the Wildcats in 17 tries. However, this was Kentucky’s night as they won the contest 31-28, and the Wildcats worked their magic down the stretch for the Homecoming crowd.

South Carolina jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and quieted the Wildcat crowd, and they had a dominant 28-10 lead going into halftime. Things looked really good for South Carolina at that point. The key turning point in the game for the Gamecocks has to be Marcus Lattimore’s ankle injury. When Lattimore exited the game, the proverbial wheels fell off.

In the second half, the passing defense fell apart giving up three scores through the air. Kentucky’s quarterback Mike Hartline ended up throwing for 349 yards and four touchdowns on the night. Hartline had been criticized for turning the football over recently; however, he played his heart out in a gutsy performance, and the Gamecocks’ pass defense had no answer down the stretch.

With a little over a minute to go, Kentucky scored the go-ahead touchdown on fourth down pass from Hartline to wide receiver Randall Cobb for 24 yards.

South Carolina then marched down the field in rather quick fashion to get within field goal range to tie the game, but the aggressive ball coach Spurrier decided he wanted to take one last shot at the end zone, and it failed. A Kentucky defensive back picked off the ball and that was the game.

The Gamecocks lacked a knockout punch and could not put the game away. The defense was borderline atrocious in the second half.

Back to Lattimore – he came into the game with 81 yards receiving on the entire season, but he surpassed that mark in the first half with 133 yards – which led all Gamecock receivers. You could see Spurrier getting Lattimore more involved in the passing game a week ago against Alabama, and this week he was the game plan. The Wildcats blitzed, and Lattimore was the answer in the flat and on wheel routes. Lattimore also carried for 79 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground before he left with an ankle injury. The kid is an absolute stud.

Stephen Garcia ended up 20/32 for 382 yards and had two touchdowns and two interceptions – his second interception ending the game in the end zone.

South Carolina will try to rebound next week in Nashville against Vanderbilt. Hopefully, Lattimore will be ready to go.