Despite its arch-rival winning the national championship, South Carolina has more than held its own securing in-state talent.

Yet the name that has Gamecock fans nervous in the waning hours of the recruiting cycle is Loganville, Ga.’s own Jamyest Williams, a 4-star defensive back, who is the ninth-rated recruit in Georgia, and the eighth-best cornerback in America.

His decision has drawn attention from both sides of the bordering states as Williams was an early coup for Will Muschamp when he committed in August. Yet a flip would signal further momentum by Georgia’s Kirby Smart.

A Williams flip would add further heartburn to a program that over the weekend lost defensive back commit Hamsah Nasirildeen to Florida State, a 4-star recruit and the top-ranked player from North Carolina.

The Gamecocks, meanwhile, have dipped into Georgia for five recruits outside of Williams.

There’s no doubt SEC East fans will keep track if Muschamp ends up with a better recruiting class than Florida, his former employer with whom he’s neck-and-neck down the stretch.

Given the Gamecocks’ middle-of-the-pack showing in total defense in the SEC last season, and the budding crop of young offensive playmakers, the focus to shore up the class is clearly on defense, especially pass rushers.

Here’s a look at the class heading into National Signing Day.

SEC class rank: 8
Overall class rank: 23

5-stars: 0
4-stars: 4
3-stars: 17

Did they own the state? Absolutely, and given Clemson’s three-game winning streak in the series and the national championship, it’s quite a statement that South Carolina has commitments from 5 of the top 8 players in the Palmetto State, and 7 of the top 20, while Clemson has one.

Top player: Williams is clearly the top choice, though given his father’s comments in recent days to multiple media outlets that South Carolina and Georgia are 50/50 or Georgia is the leader, the confidence is shaky that he will remain with this class.

The 5-foot-9, 170-pound athlete had 49 offers. If he leaves the class, receiver OrTre Smith, a Mr. Football finalist, would be the top player after he enrolled at South Carolina following interest from Clemson and Georgia.

Still chasing: Several defensive linemen, including Brad Johnson of Pendleton, S.C., Javon Kinlaw of Jones County (Miss.) Community College and Goose Creek, S.C., and Aaron Sterling, a former Alabama commitment from Tucker, Ga. While they have several in the fold, that’s clearly an area of focus.

Best unit: The defensive secondary was already expected to be solid in 2017, and the Gamecocks have six players listed at safety or defensive back in the class. Of course that would be led by Williams if he stays. The unit exceeded expectations in 2016, and all this class does is add depth and competition.

Biggest area of need filled: OrTre Smith and Shi Smith should bolster the passing game next to Deebo Samuel as they look to offer more targets for Jake Bentley. Another area is pass rush where the Gamecocks were third-worst in the SEC, and have put most of their remaining resources in this class toward landing multiple defensive ends.

Better or worse than last year? Perhaps a sign of a strengthening SEC that the Gamecocks last year had the ninth-best class in the SEC, but 17th in the country. It would be difficult, though not impossible, for the program to duplicate the production of last year’s early signees. Though the Gamecocks didn’t do as well in-state last year with just four of the top 20.