Gamecocks Set for Season Opener Saturday vs. Old Dominion

QUICKLY: The South Carolina Gamecocks begin the fourth year of the Shane Beamer Era in non-conference fashion when they host the Old Dominion Monarchs out of the Sun Belt Conference at Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559) in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday, August 31. Game time has been set for 4:15 pm ET.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: The 2024 season opener will be televised on the SEC Network. Long-time SEC play-by-play voice Dave Neal will call the action with former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray providing the color commentary. Ashley ShahAmadi will patrol the sidelines. The Gamecock Sports Radio Network features a pair of Gamecock Great quarterbacks in Todd Ellis (33rd season) and Tommy Suggs (52nd season) in the booth. Chet Tucker returns for his second season as the network’s sideline reporter.

A LITTLE HISTORY: 2024 marks year four of the Shane Beamer Era and the 131st season of intercollegiate football at the University of South Carolina, dating back to 1892. It is the 118th-consecutive year in which South Carolina has competed on the gridiron. The University did not field a team in either 1893 or 1906. Carolina owns an all-time record of 634-613-44, a .508 winning percentage. Since the start of the 21st century, the Gamecocks have posted a 168-131 record, a .562 winning clip. In three seasons under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 20-18, a .526 winning percentage.

OPENING REMARKS: Through 130 years of intercollegiate football, the Gamecocks have compiled an 86-40-4 record in season openers, a winning percentage of .677. In the 97 seasons in which the Gamecocks have opened at home, the record is a very impressive 73-20-4, which translates into a .773 winning mark. In 28 seasons in which the Gamecocks have opened on the road, they are 10-18 for a .357 winning pct. South Carolina opened the 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023 seasons at a neutral site, posting a 3-2 record in those five contests. Carolina has won all three of its home openers under Coach Beamer.

IT JUST MEANS MORE: The 2024 season will mark South Carolina’s 33rd year in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina and Arkansas joined the SEC prior to the 1992 campaign. The Gamecocks earned the SEC Eastern Division title in the 2010 season. The Gamecocks are 109-148-1 (.424) all-time in SEC regular season play but posted a 42-38 (.525) record in conference action from 2010-19. Under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 10-14 in SEC play, a .417 winning percentage.

YOU’RE SIXTEEN: The Southeastern Conference will take on a new look in 2024 with the addition of blue blood programs Texas and Oklahoma. The Gamecocks will not face the Longhorns in 2024 but will travel to Norman for their first encounter with the Sooners on Oct. 19. With the additions of the two schools, the league will no longer be divided into two divisions, but rather just one 16-team conference with the top two finishers advancing to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game on December 7.

TOUGH SLATE: South Carolina has one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2024, as seven of its 12 regular-season opponents are ranked in the nation’s preseason top-20. The Gamecocks’ 2024 slate includes contests against Alabama (5/5), Ole Miss (6/6), Missouri (11/11), LSU (13/12), Clemson (14/14), Oklahoma (16/16) and Texas A&M (20/20).

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: This is the first gridiron battle between South Carolina and Old Dominion. In fact, this will be just ODU’s second contest against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Vanderbilt defeated the Monarchs in 2014 by a 42-28 score. South Carolina and ODU are not currently scheduled to meet again.

ABOUT THE MONARCHS: Old Dominion is a school of 23,228 students in Norfolk, Va., that plays in the Sun Belt Conference. The Monarchs have been playing FBS football since the 2013 season. After an FBS transitional year in 2013, they competed in Conference USA from 2014-2021 before moving to the Sun Belt for the 2022 season. They return 11 starters from 2023’s 6-7 squad, five on offense, four on defense and two special teamers.

THE HEAD COACH: Ricky Rahne owns a 15-23 record as the head coach at ODU. He has taken Old Dominion Football to bowl games in two of the last three years as he enters his fifth season as head coach of the Monarchs.

ABOUT LAST SEASON: ODU went 6-7 in 2023 and clinched a bowl berth by winning its final two games of the regular season on the last play of each game. The Monarchs played Western Kentucky in the Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina and fell 38-35 in overtime. To get to six wins, ODU exorcised a few demons, defeating App State and Georgia Southern for the first times in program history. ODU played in 11 one-score games and went 6-5 in those contests. Six of those tilts were not decided until the final play of the game.

TOP CROWDS TO WATCH ODU: This week’s matchup at South Carolina will likely be the largest attended game in ODU football history. The Monarchs have never played in front of 70,000 or more fans.

FUN IN THE SUN: The Gamecocks are 19-3 all-time against teams that currently make up the Sun Belt Conference. South Carolina holds an 8-2 advantage over Appalachian State, is 4-0 against Troy, 2-0 against both Coastal Carolina and Louisiana, and 1-0 against Georgia State, South Alabama and Southern Miss. Marshall won the only meeting between the two squads. South Carolina’s last contest with an SBC opponent came in the 2022 season opener, a 35-14 win over Shawn Elliott’s Georgia State Panthers.

IT’S PERSONAL TO THEM: Four Gamecocks are from the commonwealth of Virginia. They include Chase Kibble (Leesburg), Jakai Moore (Nokesville), Fred “JayR” Johson (Norfolk) and Vershon Lee (Woodbridge).

YOU’RE NOT WORTHY: The Gamecocks are 42-15 in their last 57 non-conference games, a .737 winning percentage, with eight of the 15 losses in that stretch coming against Clemson. The Gamecocks went 2-2 against non-conference foes in 2023, posting wins over Furman and Jacksonville State and bookending losses to ACC rivals North Carolina and Clemson. The 2024 non-conference slate includes home games against Old Dominion (Aug. 31), Akron (Sept. 21) and Wofford (Nov. 23) and a road contest at Clemson (Nov. 30).

PROTECT THIS HOUSE: South Carolina has won 38 of its last 45 home games (.844) against non-conference foes. The Gamecocks had won a school-record 22-straight home games against non-conference teams before dropping the final two games of the 2015 regular season to The Citadel and Clemson. The Gamecocks were 2-1 in home non-conference games in 2023, defeating Furman and Jacksonville State and losing to Clemson and have won five of their last six non-conference home games.

THE POWER OF FOUR: Since the turn of the century, the Gamecocks have a 54-4 mark (.931) against teams not currently in a Power-4 conference. The only four losses in that stretch came to UConn in the 2010 Papajohns.com Bowl, to The Citadel in 2015, to USF in the 2016 Birmingham Bowl and to Appalachian State in 2019. It should be noted that UConn was in the Big East, which was a BCS automatic qualifier during the 2009 season.

2023 IN REVIEW: South Carolina concluded the 2023 season with a record of 5-7, including a 3-5 mark in the SEC. After dropping six of their first eight games, including four in a row, the Gamecocks finished the season strong, winning three of four games in the month of November. Four of their seven losses came to teams that finished the season ranked in the Associated Press Top-20, including No. 4 Georgia, No. 8 Missouri, No. 17 Tennessee and No. 20 Clemson.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?: The Gamecocks have four new on-field assistant coaches for the 2024 season, including three on the offensive side of the ball. Regarded as an outstanding recruiter, Marquel Blackwell, who also has SEC ties having coached most recently at Texas A&M and before that Ole Miss, takes over as the new running backs coach. Long-time NFL special teams savant Joe DeCamillis assumes the duties vacated by Pete Lembo as associate head coach and special teams coach. DeCamillis has ties to Carolina, as his father-in-law, Dan Reeves, is a Gamecock Legend and former NFL head coach. DeCamillis owns two Super Bowl rings of his own. Former Gamecock assistant and Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott returns to Columbia as the run game coordinator/tight ends coach. Elliott, a Camden, S.C. native, was the head coach at GSU for the past seven seasons and served as a Gamecock assistant from 2010-16 under Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp. Mike Furrey, who spent seven seasons in the NFL as a player and four more as a wide receivers coach, is the newest member of the staff. He spent the past two seasons as the head coach at Limestone.

NEXT LEVEL COACHING EXPERIENCE: Six of the Gamecocks 10 assistant coaches have coaching experience in the NFL. Those who have earned their stripes with NFL teams include Joe DeCamillis, Mike Furrey, Torrian Gray, Dowell Loggains, Sterling Lucas and Lonnie Teasley.

RUN IT BACK: The Gamecocks welcome 44 returning letterwinners to begin the 2024 fall session. The lettermen consist of 16 offensive players, 25 on the defensive side of the ball and three specialists.

RETURNING STARTERS: The Gamecocks list 14 returning starters of a possible 24 (offense, defense, punter, placekicker) from the 2023 squad, five on offense, eight on defense and one specialist. The returning offensive starters are LT Tree Babalade, RG Trovon Baugh, WR Nyck Harbor, RT Vershon Lee and LG Jakai Moore. The eight returning starters on defense are S Nick Emmanwori, CB O’Donnell Fortune, DT Alex Huntley, N Jalon Kilgore, DT T.J. Sanders, S DQ Smith, DE Bryan Thomas Jr. and LB Debo Williams. Kai Kroeger returns to handle the punting duties.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: The Gamecocks said good-bye to 28 letterwinners including 10 starters off last year’s team – six on offense, three on defense and one specialist. The departed starters include RB Mario Anderson, WR Ahmarean Brown, OC Nick Gargiulo, TE Trey Knox, WR Xavier Legette, and QB Spencer Rattler on offense, along with CB Marcellas Dial, LB Stone Blanton and EDGE Jordan Strachan on defense, and placekicker Mitch Jeter. Gargiulo, Legette, Rattler and Dial were drafted, while Anderson (Memphis), Blanton (Mississippi State) and Jeter (Notre Dame) are playing at other schools this season.

EVERY TIME OUT: The Gamecocks had six players start all 12 games in 2023 including QB Spencer Rattler, WR Xavier Legette and OL Nick Gargiulo on offense and LB Debo Williams, LB Stone Blanton and CB Marcellas Dial on defense. Williams is the lone returner for 2024.

HAVING A SENIOR MOMENT: The Gamecocks list 38 fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-year seniors on the roster, 18 on the offensive side of the ball, 16 on defense and four special teamers. Here are the nation’s most senior-oriented teams:
Rank Team Seniors
1. Eastern Michigan 39
2. South Carolina 38
3. Indiana 36
4. Oklahoma State 34
5. Hawaii 33
6. Northern Illinois 32
Bowling Green 32
8. New Mexico 30

THE DANDY DOZEN: Twelve players have been on the Gamecocks’ roster since head coach Shane Beamer’s arrival in Columbia in December of 2020. The dozen includes Luke Doty, Bradley Dunn, O’Donnell Fortune, Tonka Hemingway, Alex Herrera, Alex Huntley, Mohamed Kaba, Kai Kroeger, Vershon Lee, Payton Mangrum, Jakai Moore and Hunter Rogers.

JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH: Eleven Gamecocks began their collegiate careers in 2019. Oscar Adaway III, Kamaar Bell, Davis Beville, Dalevon Campbell, Alex Herrera, DeAndre Jules, Demetrius Knight Jr., Bam Martin-Scott, Jakai Moore, Joshua Simon and David Spaulding all were 2019 high school graduates.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: The 2024 fall roster features 24 players who have made at least one start for the Gamecocks in their career. Jakai Moore leads the way with 28 career starts, while fellow offensive lineman Vershon Lee is just one behind with 27 career starts. Junior safeties Nick Emmanwori (23 starts) and DQ Smith (22) have the most starts as Gamecocks on defense.

UTILIZING THE PORTAL: The Gamecocks’ fall roster features 21 players who were on other team’s rosters last fall. Of the 21 transfers, 11 are coming from Power-5 conferences, including six from the ACC, three from the SEC and two from the Big 12.

EARLY ENROLLEES: The Gamecocks had 13 true freshmen enroll in January including a dozen from the 16-player signing class. The three freshmen signees who joined the team during the summer include Matthew Fuller, Michael Smith and Jalewis Solomon.

ROSTER TURNOVER: Seventy-five of the 118 players on the Carolina roster (64 percent) are in either their first or second year in the program.

EARN YOUR STRIPES: The Gamecocks have started nine true freshmen in the season opener since 2009, but none since 2019. Here is the list of true freshmen first-game starters since 2009:
2009 Stephon Gilmore
2010 Marcus Lattimore
2011 Jadeveon Clowney
2014 Bryson Allen-Williams
2014 Al Harris
2016 Bryan Edwards
2018 Jaycee Horn
2019 John Dixon
2019 Jammie Robinson

THE PITT STOP: The 2024 transfer portal had a distinct Pitt Panther vibe to it as defensive tackle DeAndre Jules, linebacker Bangally Kamara and defensive back Buddy Mack III all made their way down to Columbia from the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. In addition, quarterback Davis Beville spent his first three collegiate seasons on the Pitt campus before transferring to Oklahoma for the last two campaigns.

BY THE NUMBERS: Carolina returns 15 percent of its rushing yards, four percent of its passing yards and 25 percent of its receiving yards from 2023. Juju McDowell (63 yards) is the top returning rusher while tight end Joshua Simon (256 yards) is the top returning receiver. The Gamecocks’ top returning passer is LaNorris Sellers, who threw just four passes for 86 yards a year ago. The top four tacklers from 2023 all return, including team-leader Debo Williams (113 tackles), Jalon Kilgore (76), DQ Smith (73) and Nick Emmanwori (71 tackles). T.J. Sanders (9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks) is back after leading the squad in those two categories, while Nick Emmanwori (2 interceptions, 8 pass breakups) and O’Donnell Fortune (2 INT, 6 PBU) are the top returners in those categories.

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Defensive tackle Alex Huntley and linebacker Debo Williams return after being two of six permanent team captains from the 2023 squad. The other permanent captains named for the 2023 season were QB Spencer Rattler OL Nick Gargiulo, WR Xavier Legette and RB Dakereon Joyner.

FREAKING OUT: In 20 years of Bruce Feldman’s annual Freaks List, sophomore wide receiver Nyck Harbor is the first back-to-back No. 1 player. According to Feldman, Harbor, who is listed at 6-5 and 235 pounds and has posted times of 10.11 in the 100m and 20.20 in the 200m, “looks like a video game creation, which was backed up by EA Sports giving him the rare 99 speed and 99 acceleration rating.” Harbor wasn’t the only Gamecock to make Feldman’s 2024 list. Junior safety Nick Emmanwori checks in at No. 11. At 6-3 and 227 pounds, Emmanwori broad-jumped 11-4, vertical-jumped 42 inches, did 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press and squatted 565 pounds.

YOUR MONEY’S NO GOOD HERE: Running back Bradley Dunn and linebacker Ronnie Porter were placed on scholarship during fall camp. The two special teams performers are both local private school products, with Dunn attending Hammond School and Porter prepping at Heathwood Hall.

TOTING THE SHEEPSKIN: The Gamecocks have 28 players who have earned their degrees, the most in the SEC. Eighteen of the 28 own degrees from the University of South Carolina. The list of graduates includes Oscar Adaway III, Kamaar Bell, Davis Beville, Dalevon Campbell, Luke Doty, Bradley Dunn, Nick Elksnis, King-Demenian Ford, O’Donnell Fortune, Tonka Hemingway, Alex Herrera, Brady Hunt, Alex Huntley, William Joyce, DeAndre Jules, Mohamed Kaba, Demetrius Knight Jr., Kai Kroeger, Vershon Lee, Buddy Mack III, Payton Mangrum, Bam Martin-Scott, Jakai Moore, Hunter Rogers, Raheim Sanders, Joshua Simon, David Spaulding and Debo Williams.

HEY NOW YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR: Five Gamecocks were selected to both the media and coaches’ 2024 preseason All-SEC teams. The quintet included long snapper Hunter Rogers, who was a first-team selection by the coaches and a second team pick by the media; second team selections running back Raheim Sanders and linebacker Debo Williams, and third team picks defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway and defensive back Nick Emmanwori.

UP NEXT: The Gamecocks have a chance to take an early lead in the Southeastern Conference race, as they open league action next week at Kentucky. South Carolina leads the all-time series with the Wildcats by a 20-14-1 advantage, including a 10-8 mark when playing in the Bluegrass State. The Gamecocks have won each of the last two meetings, a 24-14 win in Lexington in 2022 and a 17-14 win in Columbia last season.

LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD: The 2025 schedule will have a similar look at the 2024 slate with the same contests taking place, just at the opposite venue. South Carolina will host Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, and will travel to LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas A&M. The non-conference slate includes an Aug. 31 date in Atlanta against Virginia Tech, and three home games against in-state opponents. The Gamecocks will host FCS South Carolina State on Sept. 6, entertain Coastal Carolina on Nov. 22 and wrap up the season against Clemson on Nov. 29.