The South Carolina football team's 2024 season heats up this Saturday afternoon as the team marches into Lexington, ready to clash with Kentucky in an SEC showdown.
The Gamecocks will take on the Wildcats after a 17-14 win for South Carolina in Columbia against Kentucky last November. Head coach Shane Beamer said he's "excited" to see the beginning of SEC play in Lexington.
The Gamecocks are coming off a narrow 23-19 victory over Old Dominion to open the season on Aug. 31.
In its first game of the season, South Carolina earned the win after its defense came up with timely stops and forced four turnovers, which put its offense in a positive field position. The Gamecocks took advantage of regaining possession of the ball close to the end zone, scoring its two touchdowns shortly after Old Dominion fumbled.
Strong individual performances from fifth-year edge rusher Kyle Kennard and freshman edge rusher Dylan Stewart also contributed to the win. Both players were rewarded for their efforts by being named SEC Defensive Linemen of the Week after college football's opening weekend.
South Carolina's offense showcased some struggles against Old Dominion, averaging 3.1 yards per rush and 4.96 yards per pass attempt. Redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers started his first-ever contest on Saturday, logging 114 passing yards, a 43.5% completion percentage, 68 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
"It wasn't the best. I kind of played timid, a little bit ... nervous, scared to make a mistake," Sellers said. "I just got to go out there and play, just be myself."
Even though Seller's performance against Old Dominion was not an ideal start to his college career, Beamer said he still has faith in him.
"He's a really good quarterback," Beamer said. "He had high expectations, and I told him on Friday that he didn't need to go out there and be Superman. Just go out there and relax."
While the Gamecocks had never played Old Dominion before last Saturday, Kentucky is a familiar opponent for the team. South Carolina has faced off against the Wildcats each year since 1992.
Coach Beamer said that the Gamecocks have developed a greater familiarity with Kentucky's defense, which has 10 returning starters from last season. Their defensive unit shut out Southern Mississippi in the Wildcats' 31-0 season-opening win on Saturday.
"It's guys that we've been playing against here for a while that have a lot of experience," Beamer said. "It's essentially the same defense as last year. They've just traded out a linebacker that's with the Panthers now and brought in a linebacker that just happened to start at Georgia last season."
Kentucky's defense also features junior defensive tackle Deone Walker, who was named First-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press this past season. Walker was a disruptive force along the Wildcats' defensive line in last year's game against South Carolina, recording nine tackles and one sack.
Kentucky Junior Quarterback Brock Vandagriff, who was described by Beamer as a "talented quarterback," is expected to lead Kentucky on offense. Vandagriff, who transferred from Georgia this past offseason, threw three touchdowns in his debut with the Wildcats to go along with generating 204 yards of offense.
Junior wide receiver Barion Brown is another Kentucky player that coach Beamer mentioned in his press conference this week. He described Brown as an "elite" kick returner who has accumulated four kickoff return touchdowns throughout his college career.
Coach Beamer said he hopes individual Gamecock players can continue building chemistry as the season continues.
"We just need to continue to do that, stay the course, and it'll come," Beamer said. "It's a long way to game 12, but it's not in that it's 88 days away. That's probably the biggest thing — just every day, every rep and practice matters, every meeting matters, and the more and more comfortable ... we get, the better we'll be clicking here really soon, hopefully Saturday."
South Carolina (1-0, 0-0 SEC) is looking to extend its recent win streak over Kentucky to three games when the two teams face off at Kroger Field on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ABC.