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COLUMBIA — Three were down before kickoff. Three more checked out in-game. It isn’t unusual because all teams have injuries, especially past the midpoint of the season. And it isn’t unusual at South Carolina, as frustrating as it is. This is the Year of the Line injuries. Since at least 2017, every Gamecock football season has had one position group above all that’s been targeted with injuries. This year, with Jaylen Brown, George Wilson and Kobby Sakyi-Prah all out for the year before the first game, it was shaping to be the Year of the Edge Rusher. But it’s been overtaken by the Year of the Offensive Line, which also dominated 2023. Starting right tackle Cason Henry is out for the year due to a dislocated shoulder, and while everybody but him should be cleared to play against Alabama today, Nolan Hay, Shed Sarratt, Nick Sharpe, Tree Babalade, Jatavius Shivers and Trovon Baugh have all been dinged up of late. (Not that the edge rushers were given a break. Just last week, Anthony Addison was suspended and Dylan Stewart was hurt. Both should be fine this week) The offensive line had a carousel through the medical tent two years ago. Shane Beamer said then that he’d evaluate how the Gamecocks practiced and hopefully that would correct it. Last year, USC started the same five linemen in every game. The tweaks worked, so there was no need to change anything for this year. Well, that was the thought. “I mean, certainly you do an analysis of it during the season, and it’s something that we’ll look at after the season, in regards to why some of these things are and how they occurred,” Beamer said. “But I think a lot of them are just kind of freak things.”
