The No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3, 5-3 SEC) is set to take on the Wofford Terriers (5-6, 3-5 SoCon) in its final home game of the 2024 season on Saturday.
South Carolina is coming off a win against the then-No. 23 Missouri Tigers, where senior running back Raheim Sanders scored the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left. The score helped lift the Gamecocks to a 34-30 victory.
The Terriers lost its most recent game at home to The Citadel Bulldogs by a 30-17 score in its last home game of the season.
The Gamecocks hold a 17-game win streak against the Terriers, with their last meeting in 2017. Despite the Terriers' 5-6 record in a season where it has played five games against ranked FCS opponents, head coach Shane Beamer said the Terriers have shown evident improvement from last year.
“(We) have a good Wofford team coming in here as well,” Beamer said. "Coach (Shawn) Watson has done a nice job there in his time
With this Saturday being the Terrier's last game of the 2024 season, Beamer said he expects the Terriers not to hold back against the Gamecocks and give it their all.
“It’s a proud program with a ton of tradition. Obviously, 37 players on their team (are) from the state of South Carolina, so we know how juiced up they will be for this week,” Beamer said. They've got some good players – there's no question about it. We know we will get their very best this Saturday as well.”
South Carolina heads into Saturday's game with a four-game winning streak and is coming off a top-25 win of its own. But the team still has much to improve upon before facing Wofford, Beamer said.
“It always starts with us. There's a lot for us to be better at," Beamer said. "As great as the last month has been and as good as Saturday night was, there's a lot for us to be better at in all three phases.”
Redshirt senior defensive tackle Alex Huntley said the team still has the same mindset and preparations going into each game, no matter which opponent it faces, SEC or otherwise.
“Just have a 1-0 mindset every week...so just attack everything the same way. Don't change your routine,” Huntley said. “It's just another game... That's kind of how it's been all year.”
Beamer said a point of emphasis during the team's Tuesday morning meeting was special teams, an area of the game where Wofford could pose a challenge to South Carolina.
"They did a fake field goal this year against Western Carolina on a kickoff return. They faked a throwback pass against Mercer. They did a surprise onsides kick-off in the middle of the game against VMI," Beamer said. "You better have yourself ready to go and have a respect for them because they can attack you in special teams.”
Redshirt senior linebacker Debo Williams said he expects the Terriers to give it their all on offense, too.
“I think they are a very good FCS team, and they continue to get better each and every week,” Williams said. “I feel like they’ll try to throw some new sparks in there.”
Beamer said the Gamecocks' practices have been high-spirited and intense. He hopes this is something that will carry over into South Carolina's game against Wofford.
“Hopefully, we can continue to have a really good week and lead into Saturday,” Beamer said.
The Gamecocks will host the Terriers at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed live on both the SEC Network+ and ESPN+.