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South Carolina’s next four games look brutal. Let’s predict how the Gamecocks will do

jordan kaye
·5 min read

South Carolina’s football team is 3-1 and Shane Beamer isn’t completely happy about it.

“I’m mad that we’re not 4-0,” Beamer said after last weekend’s win over Akron.

Is the anger a tad heightened because of the officiating in that lone loss to LSU? Probably. Also, 3-1 sounds great until you realize how close you were to 4-0 — and given that quartet included two non-conference games, the Gamecocks are 1-1 in SEC play.

The difficulty of South Carolina’s first four games, though, pales in comparison to its next four. With a third of the season down, let’s take a look at the Gamecocks’ next four games — the most hellish part of the schedule with all the teams ranked inside the latest Associated Press Top 25.

  • Oct. 5: home vs. Ole Miss

  • Oct. 12: at Alabama

  • Oct. 19: at Oklahoma

  • Nov. 2: home vs Texas A&M

Here are our list of scenarios:

Nearly impossible: 4-0

Let’s forget for a second about the final two games.

Is South Carolina going to beat Ole Miss and Alabama in back-to-back weeks? C’mon. USC has been really good this season, but that feels preposterous right now.

Still, we had to include the “nearly” before impossible because the precedent is fresh. The last time South Carolina knocked off two Top 10 teams in back-to-back weeks — with the first game at home and the second on the road — was 2022.

But even that incredible two-week stretch, when the Gamecocks beat No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson, was book-ended with losses.

Winning four straight in any season in the SEC feels nearly impossible — and most of the time that doesn’t include a pair of Top 10-caliber teams. (Ole Miss dropped from the Top 10 to No. 12 overall after Saturday’s upset loss to Kentucky.)

But here’s the positive: If South Carolina goes 4-0. If they somehow get on a Black Magic-esque run, the Gamecocks themselves will be a Top 10 team. They might be a playoff favorite at that point. Heck, Ray Tanner might decide he needs a few more years as the Gamecocks’ athletic director.

Best case: 3-1

This follows the premise that South Carolina will beat the pair of evenly matched squads in Oklahoma and Texas A&M then pull a massive upset against either Ole Miss or Alabama.

It would make the most sense, if the Gamecocks do shock the world, it would come against Ole Miss next week in the Juice Wells return game. Yes, Rebels QB Jaxon Dart is the best passer in the nation right now. Ole Miss is favored by nine points in the game.

But if Williams-Brice Stadium is rocking and the Gamecocks force enough turnovers and somehow come on top, a 3-1 record in this stretch becomes quite realistic. Beating Alabama feels tougher simply because it’s a road game following Ole Miss — which might be the most emotionally charged game the Gamecocks play this season.

If South Carolina starts the season 6-2 with its only losses being LSU and either Ole Miss or LSU, everything is still on the table. Beamer’s narrative would be that the Gamecocks control their own destiny — that if they win out, the playoff might be calling.

Most-likely: 2-2

Just thinking from a Vegas perspective, South Carolina certainly won’t be favored against Ole Miss or Alabama.

Could the Gamecocks have the edge in a road game against an Oklahoma team coming off the Red River Rivalry, an Oklahoma squad that just benched its prized redshirt freshman QB in the middle of the season? There’s a chance.

Will the Gamecocks be favored at home against Texas A&M — another team with an early-season quarterback controversy? Probably.

So that just feels like the most plausible. Perhaps the Gamecocks lose to Ole Miss and Alabama, then rally to beat Oklahoma and Texas A&M coming off a bye week. The only way this gets funky is if South Carolina somehow beats Alabama or Ole Miss, then loses one of the last two.

Worst-case: 1-3 or 0-4

Everything goes wrong. Injuries pile up. The offense doesn’t take a step forward. South Carolina pulls some deja vu from a year ago, where the defense is solid but the offense strains to get a first down.

Or the LSU luck just continues. South Carolina has one of those years. It loses to Ole Miss and Alabama then get bit by turnovers or penalties or officiating or whatever and can’t win games in the fourth quarter.

Heck, if you showed an SEC fan South Carolina’s schedule two months ago, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think a majority would have picked the Gamecocks to lose all four. After all, USC’s next four opponents were ranked in the preseason AP poll.

Gamecocks’ full schedule for 2024

  • Aug. 31 – South Carolina 23, Old Dominion 19 // 4:15 pm

  • Sept. 7 – South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6 // 3:30 pm

  • Sept. 14 – LSU 36, South Carolina 33 // noon

  • Sept. 21 – South Carolina 50, Akron 7 // 7:30 pm

  • Oct. 5 – vs. Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

  • Oct. 12 – at Alabama – Noon, ABC —OR— ESPN

  • Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma – TBA (early)

  • Nov. 2 – vs. Texas A&M – TBA (night)

  • Nov. 9 – at Vanderbilt – TBA (afternoon)

  • Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri – TBA (afternoon)

  • Nov. 23 – vs. Wofford – 4 p.m., SEC Network Plus/ESPN+

  • Nov. 30 – at Clemson – TBA