Pharoh Cooper might as well wear a yellow non-contact jersey throughout fall camp. He is, after all, the South Carolina Gamecocks’ incumbent passing leader.
Head coach Steve Spurrier is being cautious this summer when it comes to his first-team All-SEC wide receiver, who accounted for 1,336 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns in 2014. Cooper had help around him as senior quarterback Dylan Thompson spread the ball to 14 different players en route to setting the Gamecocks’ single-season record with 3,564 passing yards.
The Gamecocks’ aerial attack is going to look much, much different in 2015.
After scrolling down the list of last year’s pass catchers, one finds only one returning wide receiver not named Cooper — Shamier Jeffery and his two catches for nine yards. You begin to see why Spurrier and wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. have reason for concern.
That’s not to say they’re cloaking their senior wideout in bubble-wrap before each practice, either.
“We are limiting him a little bit, but when he’s in there we are coaching him hard,” Spurrier Jr. said via The State. “He wants to be a better player than he was last year so we are pressing to coach him and teach him.”
Dissecting the Gamecocks’ 2014 passing game isn’t easy, especially when you consider that Cooper, the team’s lead receiver, is also now its most-experienced quarterback having connected on 5 of 8 attempts last year for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Sophomore Connor Mitch (2-of-6, 19 yards, 0 TDs in 2014) appears to have a great chance at winning the South Carolina starting role. A traditional pocket passe, Mitch — or whomever Spurrier dubs his starter — will be tasked with replacing 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns’ worth of production from last year’s receivers.
Better put, the Gamecocks lost 5,089 career yards and 44 touchdowns with the departure of Nick Jones, Rory “Busta” Anderson, Damiere Byrd, Cody Gibson, K.J. Brent and Shaq Roland.
That’s what you call a mass exodus.
Jones, Anderson, Byrd and Gibson exhausted their eligibility. Roland may not play football again, while Brent bailed for Wake Forest.
It’s not as bad as it sounds. Cooper will line up in all three wide receiver spots this season and should be targeted with about 100 passes.
That means more opportunities for a young stable of Gamecocks receivers to step up. Among them is Deebo Samuel, who has impressed in the spring and summer. The redshirt freshman is penciled in to start for Spurrier out of the ‘X’ slot, but could also see action in the ‘Z’ and at flank. Samuel has big-play ability. The problem, like with all Gamecock wide receivers, is his game experience: none.
There’s a good ol’ fashioned senior vs. freshman battle brewing for the Gamecocks’ ‘B’ wide receiver role between elder statesman Carlton Heard and Terry Googer. Heard is a former walk-on who spent time on special teams in 2014. Googer, at 6-foot-4, 226 pounds, redshirted last year and has four inches and 44 pounds on Heard. Spurrier will likely split their talents at the position throughout the year.
Jeffery will likely back up Samuel at the ‘X’ along with Shaq Davidson and Christian Owens to provide depth. Matrick Belton and Jerad Washington will serve as Cooper’s replacements, while Sean Odom lists behind Heard and Googer.
The depth and talent is in place, which is a great thing when you have Spurrier calling in plays from the sideline. While experience is a big red flag, the South Carolina wide receivers have a chance to post solid numbers.
They’ll need to mature fast while stepping up big and early for the Gamecocks. The bubble wrap comes off Cooper on Sept. 3 in Week 1 against North Carolina.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
