Before this season started FloRugby pegged South Carolina as one of its breakout teams for the fall, and the Gamecocks have certainly delivered.

USC won the SCRC West comfortably, and in fact had the #1 spot in that half of the SCRC sewn up before the Gamecocks faced Auburn last week. Don't let the 22-20 scoreline fool you, Auburn actually had to forfeit, but played an open-sub game anyway. USC played a number of younger players and rested several starters for this weekend's two-game playoff.

"It was a good chance for me to play 10 extra players," said USC coach Mark Morris. "That's important for us before we play teams like Tennessee and Kentucky. We feel we're strong, but we know we need the depth in a two-game weekend."

Morris has no concern about his starters, and in fact said his top 30 players are "all playing real good rugby. You can't notice much of a swing in quality when the subs come on. It's not about athletic ability; it’s about playing together consistently."

This weekend the Gamecocks face Tennessee in Saturday's semifinal, while high-flying Kentucky takes on Alabama. USC played, and lost to, Tennessee in a warmup at the beginning of the season. Morris says that game might want to be taken with a grain of salt.

"We've changed our lineup by about seven players," said Morris. "We are like a whole other team, and we have a lot of players now pushing for spots."

Leading the way for USC is captain Christian Harrell, last year's SEC 7s player of the year. He is a playmaker, and senior No. 8 Chuck Depont is a wall-breaker and a leader. Micah Stewart is a co-captain of the team as a sophomore and has emerged as a defensive force at flanker, while Danny Callahan and Nick Skalka, like  Depont a product of the Gonzaga HS program in DC, have had consistently strong seasons.

"We have a lot of leadership on the field," said Morris.  "I feel real comfortable about where we are."