South Carolina will return from its bye week with one of its biggest challenges of the season — a primetime showdown in Baton Rouge. The SEC officially announced that the Gamecocks’ matchup against No. 13 LSU will kick off at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 11, with coverage on SEC Network.
It marks South Carolina’s fifth consecutive night game of the year — a streak that will continue as the Gamecocks enter the most demanding stretch of their schedule.
Over the next five weeks, Shane Beamer’s squad will face a gauntlet of five straight ranked opponents. After LSU, South Carolina will take on No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 10 Alabama, No. 4 Ole Miss, enjoy a bye, and then meet No. 6 Texas A&M. Three of those contests will be played on the road.
The trip to Tiger Stadium will also be about redemption. Last season, the Gamecocks fell in a controversial 36-33 loss to LSU in Columbia. A pivotal moment came late in the fourth quarter when Nick Emmanwori’s 100-yard interception return was wiped out by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Kyle Kennard for a shove on quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
Without the flag, the touchdown would’ve given South Carolina a 10-point lead with under six minutes left. Instead, LSU capitalized, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with just 72 seconds remaining, and held on after Alex Herrera’s potential game-tying field goal missed as time expired.
The upcoming contest will be South Carolina’s first visit to Baton Rouge since 2020, when LSU rolled to a 52-24 win. Historically, the matchup has been lopsided — the Gamecocks haven’t beaten the Tigers since 1994 and own just two victories in the all-time series.
Both programs enter the matchup coming off their bye weeks. LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) opened the season with four straight wins, including a season-opening upset at then-No. 4 Clemson, and victories over Louisiana Tech, Florida, and Southeastern Louisiana. The Tigers’ lone loss came at Ole Miss, where their offense sputtered in a 24-19 setback.
South Carolina (3-2, 1-2 SEC) will look to build on its momentum after earning its first conference win of the season — a 35-13 victory over Kentucky. The Gamecocks opened the year 2-0 before back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri, and now aim to prove themselves against one of the SEC’s most complete teams under the lights at Death Valley.
