Five Things to Know as South Carolina Hosts No. 11 Tennessee Off the Bye Week
South Carolina (3-3, 1-3 SEC) returns to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday to host No. 11 Tennessee, its first game after the only bye week of the season. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN, and the Gamecocks are favored by 2.5 points. The South Carolina State Fair is across the street, so plan extra time if you’re attending.
1. LaNorris Sellers looks like he has his confidence back
In the 38-19 win over Florida two weeks ago, quarterback LaNorris Sellers played much more like his 2024 self. He made quick decisions, avoided forcing throws, let plays develop and used his legs for first downs. Coaches had said little before that, beyond saying he needed to be better. Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles gave more detail this week. He said Sellers had been carrying some weight that he let go, and that he now plays more freely. Briles also said quarterbacks who have a rough stretch tend to second-guess themselves, and that they need to make split-second decisions and trust the coverage and their receivers. The takeaway is that Sellers is playing instead of overthinking, and that made a clear difference.
2. Tennessee could be due for a letdown
It looks odd that the 11th-ranked team is an underdog to a South Carolina team with one SEC win in the past calendar year. Perhaps oddsmakers doubt the Volunteers can repeat last week, when they beat Alabama 26-10. The score understates it. Tennessee ran for 150 yards, held the Tide to 54 on the ground and had the ball for nearly 10 more minutes. The matchup features two strong rushing offenses: South Carolina leads the SEC at 232 yards per game, and Tennessee is second at 217. But this is also the team that beat Arkansas by only a touchdown two weeks ago, and a field-storming win can bring a hangover. Tight end Brady Hunt sees a tough game coming: “It’s gonna be a heavyweight fight.”
3. Byes haven’t helped Beamer
Conventional wisdom says extra rest helps, but in Shane Beamer’s five full seasons the Gamecocks are 3-4 after bye weeks. Last year they lost to LSU (20-10) and Texas A&M (31-30) after their two byes. On the other side, Tennessee has been 5-0 under Josh Heupel after playing Alabama, though four of those wins came against Kentucky and one against UT Martin. Neither trend is reliable.
4. This wouldn’t be a repeat of 2022
South Carolina’s 63-38 upset of No. 5 Tennessee in 2022 still prompts conspiracy theories. Some Vols fans have tried to link Michigan sign-stealer Connor Stalions to the Gamecocks, claimed South Carolina used sand to slow the offense, and complained about the defense’s first use of wristbands that season. Defensive coordinator Clayton White has found it amusing, calling the wristband theories one of the funniest stories out there. The 2022 game was far more shocking. South Carolina had lost to Florida by 32 the week before, and Tennessee was a 22-point favorite. A win now would be a good result, but not nearly as surprising.
5. What a win would mean
- Bowl eligibility: A win would put South Carolina on course for a bowl, barring a collapse.
- Beamer’s future: It would almost certainly mean he returns in 2027.
- Expectations: A loss makes six or seven wins realistic. A win makes eight regular-season wins plausible. Fans would have been happy with 8-4 in the preseason, and that looked unlikely after the Gamecocks started 2-4. With a win, South Carolina would probably be favored in every remaining game except the penultimate one, against Georgia.
The article closes by asking whether 8-4 would count as a successful season for Beamer, given everything that has happened.
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