Palmetto Bowl Set for Saturday

South Carolina’s complete game notes can be found here.

QUICKLY: The Palmetto Bowl Trophy and a point in the South Carolina Education Lottery Palmetto Series are on the line when the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-7, 1-7 SEC) wrap up the 2025 season on Saturday, November 29, in a non-conference matchup with the Clemson Tigers (6-5, 4-4 ACC) out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Game time is set for high noon at Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559) in Columbia.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: This week’s game will be televised on the SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour handling the play-by-play, Matt Stinchcomb providing the color commentary and South Carolina’s own Alyssa Lang working the sidelines. The Gamecock Sports Radio Network features a pair of Gamecock Hall of Fame quarterbacks in play-by-play voice Todd Ellis (34th season) and analyst Tommy Suggs (53rd season). Chet Tucker returns for his third year as the sideline reporter.

YOU DON’T WIN IF YOU DON’T PLAY: The Palmetto Series points chase was rekindled in 2022. This year’s competition between South Carolina and Clemson is presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery. When the rivals face off this season, each school will earn a point for a win with the overall winner taking home the Palmetto Series trophy and bragging rights. Started in 2015, the Gamecocks lead the overall Palmetto Series by a comfortable 6-1 margin. Clemson holds a slim 2-1 lead in 2025-26, capturing points in men’s soccer and volleyball, while South Carolina won a point in women’s basketball. The women’s soccer match ended in a scoreless tie. The next matchup comes in men’s basketball when the two schools will meet on the hardwood in the Upstate on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

SEASON SNAPSHOT: The Gamecocks enter this week’s contest with a 4-7 mark. Carolina opened the season with a 24-11 non-conference win over Virginia Tech in Atlanta, then rolled past South Carolina State by a 38-10 margin in the home opener. The Gamecocks had their eight-game regular season winning streak and their 16-game winning streak against Vanderbilt snapped in a 31-7 decision in the SEC lid-lifter, then fell by a 29-20 count at Missouri before bouncing back with a convincing 35-13 win over Kentucky. After a bye week, the Gamecocks went to Baton Rouge and came up on the short end of a 20-10 decision to 11th-ranked LSU, then dropped back-to-back home decisions to No. 14/13 Oklahoma (26-7) and No. 4/4 Alabama (29-22) before losing at No. 7/8 Ole Miss, 30-14, and at No. 3/3 Texas A&M 31-30. The Gamecocks got back on the winning track last Saturday with a 51-7 rout of Coastal Carolina.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: The Gamecocks have played most of their opponents close this season but have not been able to finish. They have either lead or have been within a touchdown entering the fourth quarter in nine of 11 games this season. In their seven losses, they led No. 23 Missouri, No. 4 Alabama and No. 3 Texas A&M heading into the final stanza, trailed No. 11 LSU and No. 7 Ole Miss by just seven and six points respectively, before ultimately falling short, and even in the two “blowout” losses versus Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, were within one score at halftime in each contest. The Gamecocks are 25-5 when leading after three quarters under Coach Beamer, but just 4-3 this season.