Five final thoughts and a score prediction ahead of South Carolina vs. ODU football game

South Carolina begins its 2024 season on Saturday night, taking on Old Dominion at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Monarchs, a Sun Belt squad coming off a 6-7 season, have played just one SEC team ever — and, well, it was Vanderbilt. South Carolina, meanwhile, is trying to get back to a bowl game after going 5-7 last year.

All time, South Carolina is 86-40-4 in season openers and 73-20-4 in home openers. Kickoff is at 4:15 p.m. Eastern. The game will air on SEC Network.

Those are the facts. Here are some thoughts.

1. This game is all about LaNorris Sellers

Saturday is about starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

For better or worse, much of the hopes and dreams of South Carolina football ride on the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Florence product. Perhaps he is the ultra-special signal caller Gamecocks fans have been looking for, the one capable of taking USC to new heights, to new relevance.

To this point, nothing has seemed to faze Sellers.

None of the hype. None of the expectations. None of the pressure.

Will that change when he runs onto the field Saturday for his first collegiate start? Will he look shaky, nervous, uncomfortable? Or will he dice up Old Dominion and pass his first test as a Gamecock?

Time will tell. But perhaps it is best not to try and extrapolate — for better or worse — what Sellers does in Week 1. There will certainly be growing pains. And, almost assuredly, there will be some marvelous plays that raise whatever expectations you had of him.

I would tell folks not to judge Sellers on Week 1, but that would be impossible. Hope is too captivating.

2. This game should turn into a D-line highlight reel

Last year, there were 133 teams playing FBS college football. None allowed more sacks than the Old Dominion Monarchs … and it wasn’t even close.

In 13 games last year, ODU’s quarterback went down 62 times!

For reference: South Carolina, which had an injury-ridden offensive line, was tied for 121st in the nation in sacks allowed … and the Gamecocks gave up 21 fewer sacks than Old Dominion (in one fewer game).

South Carolina’s coaches will preach team defense and doing your job and ... blah, blah, blah. If I’m edge rusher Kyle Kennard or Gilber Edmond or true freshman Dylan Stewart, I’m licking my chops.

The South Carolina record for most sacks in a game (4.5) was set by Jadeveon Clowney against Clemson in 2012. That feels like an impossible mark to beat, but some of the more confident Gamecocks defensive ends have to think there’s a chance.

South Carolina has immense depth at the edge position this season, a group that brought back Bryan Thomas Jr., Jatius Geer and Desmond Umeuozulu but was really bolstered by the three aforementioned newcomers: Kennard (Georgia Tech transfer), Edmond (Florida State transfer) and Stewart.

We might see them put together half of their season highlight tape Saturday.

3. Let Rocket cook

I’ve already made a prediction that I think running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders will rush for over 1,200 yards this season.

My reasoning is simple. First, the last time he was healthy, he totaled almost 1,500 yards at Arkansas. Second, he is South Carolina’s best offensive weapon — and the best offensive weapon should touch the ball an insane number of times.

The question is not how much will Sanders be used, but how will offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains use Sanders this season?

Does Loggains run a little read-option with Sellers and Sanders? Does he try and get Sanders involved in the receiving game? Or does he avoid any cuteness and just run Sanders up the gut over and over again?

For a few plays Saturday, I might just fix my eyes on Sanders. I wanna watch what he does pre-snap. I want to see how he moves. How he cuts. I want to see how the ODU defense reacts to him and what impact he has on a football game.

4. Will the helmet communication go OK?

There are really two new wrinkles in college football that you should be aware of/care about.

First, adopting a rule from the NFL, all college football games will now have a two-minute warning in the second and fourth quarters. Yes, it will make games a bit longer. But it also causes coaches to change their end-of-half and end-of-game strategy.

The other is helmet communication — aka The Connor Stalions Rule. In another NFL adaptation, one offensive and one defensive player will now be able to wear a helmet that acts like a walkie-talkie. It is coach-to-player communication, but it will be shut off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock.

The helmet with the communication capabilities will be marked by a green dot on the back of the helmet.

Instead of an offensive coordinator calling in plays to graduate assistants on the sideline, who then relay them to the players through elaborate signs, the OC can now just read off the play directly to the quarterback.

Same thing on defense, except South Carolina isn’t yet revealing who will wear the green-dot helmet. According to defensive coordinator Clayton White, “whoever’s in the middle of the defense, that’s the best place to put the green dot.”

The thing is, only one green dot can be on the field at the same time.

So, White said, three linebackers will have multiple helmets — a radio helmet, a backup radio helmet and a non-radio helmet. To some, that spells a recipe for confusion and a slip-up. But White didn’t seem nervous.

“I’m not gonna have any type of rule where you can’t play together because of this green-dot rule,” White said. “We had a long talk yesterday about how we’re gonna work that. But we’re gonna get it done.”

5. Goodbye, easy season openers

Old Dominion could be the worst program South Carolina will face in a season opener for a few years. And that is less of an indictment of the Monarchs’ football program as it is the Gamecocks’ scheduling.

Here’s who South Carolina is slated to face in its next handful of season openers:

2025 — vs. Virginia Tech in Atlanta

2026 — vs. Miami (Fla.)

2027 — No season opener game scheduled yet (vs. Appalachian State in Week 2)

2028 — vs. North Carolina

2029 — at North Carolina

2030 — No season opener game scheduled yet (vs. East Carolina in Week 2)

2031 — at N.C. State.

South Carolina isn’t exactly scheduling world beaters — and there’s no need to when you play an SEC schedule and face Clemson every year — but more often than not, the Gamecocks are playing a tough ACC squad to start the season.

In a year with a redshirt freshman starting quarterback, a fresh-faced offensive line and more than two dozen transfers, this is the perfect season for South Carolina to come out of the gate against a Group-of-5, tune-up opponent.

FINAL: South Carolina 34, Old Dominion 17