Head football coach Shane Beamer’s first season with the Gamecocks will begin at home on Sept. 4, according to the 2021 South Carolina football schedule that was released on Wednesday.
The Gamecocks will play Eastern Illinois, making this non-conference game the first time the teams will pay each other.
South Carolina will travel to Greenville the following Saturday to play the East Carolina Pirates on Sept. 11. It’s been 24 years since the last time the Gamecocks have traveled to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
SEC play will begin on Sept. 18 when the Gamecocks continue on the road to face off against Georgia. Sanford Stadium was good to South Carolina during the 2019 season, but the last time the two teams met, the Bulldogs won 45-16.
South Carolina is set to return home for back-to-back weeks against Kentucky on Sept. 25 and Troy on Oct. 2. The Kentucky matchup is the first SEC home game for the Gamecocks and South Carolina will look to extend the overall record to 4-0 against Troy the following week.
South Carolina will then alternate road and home games for the next four weeks, starting traveling with Knoxville to play Tennessee on Oct. 9.
The Gamecocks will return home the following week to play Vanderbilt on Oct. 16. In Williams-Brice Stadium, the Gamecocks are 12-2 against the Commodores.
Texas A&M will host the Gamecocks in College Station, Texas on Oct. 23 followed by South Carolina hosting the Florida Gators at home on Nov. 6.
They will conclude the road season by traveling to Columbia, Missouri to face the Missouri Tigers for the annual Mayor’s Cup on Nov. 13.
The season will wrap up at home with two final games against Auburn on Nov. 20 and university rival Clemson on Nov. 27.
Times of kickoffs will be determined throughout the season. All South Carolina matchups are set to be televised.