The South Carolina football team is looking to improve its record to 3-0 and grab its first win over No. 16 LSU since 1994 this Saturday in Columbia.
The Gamecocks will have the nation's eyes on a sold-out Williams-Brice Stadium with ESPN’s College GameDay coming to the university’s campus for the first time since 2014.
It's the first time that South Carolina has faced off against the Tigers since 2008 in Columbia. The two teams were set to face off at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2015 but the game was moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, due to historic flooding in the Columbia area.
“I know it's gonna be an amazing environment in Williams-Brice Stadium,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “We already had a bunch of recruits that wanted to come to this game before (the Kentucky win) … now we’re having to turn people away, we’ve got so many recruits that want to come to this game.”
The team needs to handle the spotlight and success the right way, Beamer said.
“There's a lot going on this week that we didn't have to deal with last week,” Beamer said. “It’s a positive, we need to get used to it. But we need to make sure that one, we're handling distractions the right way … the bandwagon is getting full in a lot of ways.”
Beamer also encouraged South Carolina fans to get to the stadium early.
“Start tailgating at 6 a.m., whatever you got to do,” Beamer said. “This place needs to be rocking on Saturday. This will be their quarterback's first true road start.”
The Gamecocks enter the matchup holding the top spot in the recently expanded 16-team SEC after a road win over the Kentucky Wildcats, 31-6. South Carolina and the Wildcats are the only two teams in the conference that have played a game against an SEC opponent this season.
The Gamecock’s defensive line holds a top spot of its own, leading the NCAA in sack yards, while also being tied with Indiana for second in the country in total sacks with 10 through its first two games.
“We were better in that room than what we were last year,” Beamer said. “Schematically, we’ve done some things, but a lot of it is just new personnel. They’ve come in and done a great job … It’s two games, we’ve got a lot of football left.”
Despite the team's dominance on defense, South Carolina has been working out some kinks on offense. Beamer said it was important for the Gamecocks to play efficiently and prevent negative plays.
“We certainly can't come out of this game on Saturday having eight negative yardage plays,” Beamer said. “If so, it probably hasn't gone well for us on Saturday … they’re gonna make some plays, I'm not saying that, they’ve got really good players. So there's probably gonna be some negative yardage plays, but we just can't have them where it's every possession.”
Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina's starting quarterback, said the offense needs more communication and better execution to get more efficient.
Both teams will come into Saturday’s matchup with their quarterbacks having experienced minor injuries the week before. Sellers missed the majority of the second quarter against Kentucky with a minor lower-body injury, while redshirt junior Garrett Nussmeier missed the end of the second quarter of LSU's game against Nicholls State after limping off the field. Both quarterbacks returned in the third quarter for their respective teams.
LSU enters Saturday’s contest with a 1-1 record, having lost to then-No. 23 Southern California in its season opener in Las Vegas and defeating Nicholls State the following week.
This weekend will serve as the Tigers' first road game of the season. LSU went 2-2 on the team's road trips last season. But LSU has never lost at Williams-Brice Stadium in its six trips to the stadium in program history.
LSU has shown a pass-heavy offense in its first two games this season. The Tigers have passed the ball 39 times against Southern California and 38 times against Nicholls State.
The Gamecocks are prepared for whatever the Tigers throw at them, sophomore defensive back Jalon Kilgore said.
“If they plan on passing the ball, then we're planning on stopping it. If they plan on running the ball, we also plan on stopping it,” Kilgore said. “If they plan on passing the ball — I know our edge rushers, they're going to get to the quarterback, and I know we got good DBs that can guard them on the back end.”
The Tigers have spent the opening weeks of the season breaking in new coordinators, with Joe Sloan on offense and Blake Baker on defense. Baker has a recent history with Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks.
“We’re playing a defensive coordinator that was at Missouri the last three seasons and frankly embarrassed us the last three seasons,” Beamer said.
This coaching change has led Beamer to watch more film on 2023 Missouri than 2023 LSU when preparing for the game, he said.
The Tigers are on the prowl for the team's eighth-consecutive win over 22 years against the Gamecocks, while South Carolina looks to stake its claim as a contender in the SEC and carry its momentum from last week through the season.
LSU is currently a 7-point favorite heading into Saturday, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The Gamecocks and Tigers will face off at noon on ABC after the morning’s fanfare of ESPN’s College Gameday at Gamecock Park.