- Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 South Carolina: Sunday, August 31, at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN) from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
- Betting line: USC -7.5
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Beamer has posted a 29-22 overall record at South Carolina with a 15-17 mark in SEC play. He’s coming off his best season in which the Gamecocks went 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the league, and Beamer was named SEC Coach of the Year. After starting 3-3 — all three losses were to ranked teams, and two of them by one score — his team ran off six consecutive victories. That included wins over No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 23 Missouri and No. 12 Clemson.
Though the Gamecocks lost some key players, particularly on defense, they appear to be a talented team with momentum as a program. Many national pundits are high on them heading into the season, and quite a bit of that revolves around star power. However, as we’ll see, they aren’t without their own share of question marks. In fact, they’ve got quite a few, particularly on defense.
One of the reasons for South Carolina’s lofty preseason rankings is because of its recognizable star power in the form of a couple of sophomores who made headlines in 2024. We’ll base our preview around those two guys and compare them to the players that surround them.
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers And The South Carolina Offense
LaNorris Sellers (6-3, 240, r-So.) is a physical beast who was once committed to Virginia and Syracuse. I’d say he got his decision right the third time around. Some of South Carolina’s struggles early last season were due to his youth, but things began to take off once he settled into the position.
Sellers missed South Carolina’s fourth game of the season against Akron. Overall, in his first five games, his team’s record stood at 2-3. Things started coming together for him in his fifth game, a 27-25 loss to Alabama.
In his first four games, his numbers looked like this:
• Passing: 49-of-85 (57.6%) for 555 yards, 6.5 YPA, 2 TDs, 3 INTs
• Rushing: 55 carries, 203 yards, 3.69 YPC, 3 TDs
From the Alabama game through the end of the season, he put up the following numbers:
• Passing: 147-of-214 (68.7%) for 1,979 yards, 9.25 YPA, 16 TDs, 4 INTs
• Rushing: 111 carries, 474 yards, 4.27 YPC, 4 TDs
The difference is clear. He had a huge game against an overmatched Wofford team late in the season, which accounts for some of the improved numbers, but not all of them. It’s obvious he turned the corner starting with the Alabama game.
He wasn’t perfect. Only once did South Carolina win a game when he had 30-plus attempts. He was helped by a good defense that held Oklahoma to nine points, Texas A&M to 20, Vanderbilt to seven and Clemson to 14. But the one time in the second half of the season when the defense slipped up, Sellers was there to save the day.
In a 34-30 victory over Missouri, the redshirt freshman went 21-of-30 (70%) for 353 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception. He wasn’t always consistent through the air, but he dominated that game and led his team to the win. Big plays are his specialty. He averaged 9.25 yards per attempt starting with the Alabama game and three consecutive outings against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Wofford where he averaged over 11 yards per attempt.
The comparisons between him and Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones are eerily similar. Drones is 6-2, 235, while Sellers is 6-3, 240. Their statistics are close, too. Here are the numbers for Drones in 2023:
• Passing: 166-of-285 (58.2%) for 2,085 yards, 7.3 YPA, 17 TDs, 3 INTs
• Rushing: 166 carries, 818 yards, 4.9 YPC, 5 TDs
And here was Sellers in 2024:
• Passing: 196-of-299 (65.6%) for 2,534 yards, 8.5 YPA, 18 TDs, 7 INTs
• Rushing: 166 carries, 674 yards, 4.1 YPC, 7 TDs
Sellers was more efficient through the air, despite being younger, though Drones threw fewer picks and was a bit better on the ground.
I think Sellers is a little faster and shiftier than Drones, but Drones is perhaps a better inside runner. The Hokie defense must make sure it tackles Sellers when it has the opportunity, as some of his biggest plays in the passing game came after he broke away from sacks that would have gone for huge losses and completed passes down the field. You can see a couple of examples in the first two plays of this highlight reel:
Who will be Sellers’ top weapon in the passing game? Tight end Josh Simon led the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns last season, which indicates that the Gamecocks probably lacked wide receiver depth and consistency. Last year’s PFF grades reflect this. Nyck Harbor (6-5, 235, Jr.) is a freakish athlete with great size, but his production has lagged behind his talent level so far. He had 26 catches for 376 yards and three touchdowns in 2024. If he’s progressed as a wide receiver, look out. If not, then he’s sort of an athlete whose best position happens to be wideout.
Jared Brown (6-0, 195, r-Sr.) is a possible starter at wide receiver. He was a major playmaker for Coastal Carolina but only caught 15 passes for 244 yards a year ago. Mazeo Bennett Jr. (5-10, 185, So.) is another likely starter. He showed plenty of promise as a freshman in 2024, catching 30 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
South Carolina’s running game should be strong with Sellers and Utah State transfer running back Rahsul Faison (6-0, 218, r-Sr.), who rushed for 1,109 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago. He had five 100-yard rushing games last year, including 115 yards against Utah and 109 yards vs. Boise State. How much the Gamecock offense improves will be heavily influenced by whether or not Faison’s game translates to a higher level of football and by how much the wide receivers have improved.
Up front, South Carolina struggled with pass protection last season but anchored a good running game. Only two starters return: left tackle Josiah Thompson (6-7, 300, So.) and right tackle Cason Henry (6-6, 310, r-Jr.). Thompson was a Freshman All-American last year and looks to have a great future. Henry struggled in his first season as a starter (55.1 overall grade on PFF).
The Gamecocks brought in a couple of transfers on the interior. Boaz Stanley (6-3, 325, r-Jr.) started all 12 games at Troy last season, both as a center and a right tackle. He performed much better at center after struggling mightily in pass protection on the edge. He’s a strong bet to start at center. Wake Forest transfer Nick Sharpe (6-2, 340, r-Sr.) has a lot of mass and played well as a starter for the Demon Deacons last season at right guard. He’s another strong bet to start, but we aren’t entirely sure, as Beamer chose not to release a depth chart.
Offensive line was one of the most scrutinized positions for the Gamecocks in the offseason, and with so many new faces and the starting five being unclear, nobody is really sure how this group will perform.
Former Alabama head coach Mike Shula, the son of legendary NFL coach Don Shula, is South Carolina’s offensive coordinator. He’s in his first season after serving as an analyst last year. He’s a very experienced football coach, though it should be noted that he’s spent nearly his entire career in the NFL. He’s never served as a coordinator or position coach at the college level until now (he’s 60).
Sellers is an extremely talented player and can be a star for the Gamecocks. However, there are still plenty of question marks at many of the other spots on offense. They’ll be facing a Virginia Tech defense with a lot of new faces and a brand new scheme. Shula has undoubtedly been watching a lot of Wofford film in the offseason, but you can also bet that he’s been studying the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals. The Tech defense versus the South Carolina offense is one of the most intriguing matchups of the season.
Dylan Stewart And The South Carolina Defense
Clayton White has been the defensive coordinator for the entirety of Beamer’s tenure. He’s got former Virginia Tech safety and DB coach Torrian Gray as his defensive passing game coordinator. He’s also go the luxury of having one of the best defensive football players in America at his disposal.
Dylan Stewart (6-5, 245, So.) was a five-star recruit and the Washington Post’s All-Metro Football Player of the Year coming out of high school. He had 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks as a true freshman in 2024 and is a serious candidate for All-American honors this year.
Stewart is an ultra-athletic player with a great frame and a very quick first step. Players like him create headaches for offensive coordinators because a big part of the game plan has to be adjusted to keep that player from taking over the game. That’s especially the case with Virginia Tech, where there are so many question marks on the offensive line, including offensive tackle.
At left tackle, Johnny Garrett (6-5, 318, r-Jr.) is a first-time starter who struggled at times in pass protection last season. At right tackle is Montavious Cunningham (6-4, 318, r-Sr.). He started at right tackle for Georgia State two years ago and helped up very well there (including in a game against LSU in which he played 64 snaps). He struggled last year in his first season at Tech, partly thanks to an undisclosed preseason injury, and he appears to be a much-improved player this year. What exactly does much-improved mean, though? We’ll have a much better idea after Week 1.
Garrett and Cunningham could go on to have good season, but they will face their biggest challenge of the year in the opener. There will be times where both guys will have to go one-on-one with Stewart. That can never be completely avoided. However, I would expect new Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to help those guys with the tight ends and running backs as much as possible, as well as give the Gamecocks plenty of misdirection to slow down Stewart, to a certain extent.
Facing Stewart sounds scary, but there are question marks all over the South Carolina defense. Nagurski winner Kyle Kennard is off to the NFL after posting 11.5 sacks a year ago and Stewart is the only defensive line starter returning. Both starting linebackers departed. The Gamecocks had five players drafted after the 2024 season; all of them came form the defensive side of the ball.
• S Nick Emmanwori: 2nd round, Seattle Seahawks
• DT TJ Sanders: 2nd round, Buffalo Bills
• LB Demetrius Knight: 2nd round, Cincinnati Bengals
• DE Kyle Kennard: 4th round, Los Angeles Chargers
• DT Tonka Hemingway: 4th round, Las Vegas Raiders
That’s a whole lot of talent to lose in one offseason from one side of the ball, particularly up front. Stewart is awesome, but there is plenty of unknown surrounding him. He had a great freshman season but could never be doubled because he was on the same defensive line with three NFL players, not to mention an NFL linebacker.
Defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr. (6-2, 249, Sr.) should be solid, but he doesn’t present nearly as many problems as Stewart or the other linemen the Gamecocks lost. Nick Barrett (6-3, 322, r-Sr.) may be a starter at defensive tackle, but he has been an underwhelming career backup with only 449 snaps in four seasons in Columbia. Monkell Goodwine (6-4, 305, r-Sr.) is a transfer from Alabama with only 172 career snaps and was right around average in a backup role for the Gamecocks last season.
Backup defensive tackle Gabriel Dindy-Brownlow (6-3, 315, r-Jr.) couldn’t get on the field at Texas A&M (82 career snaps). He could be in the two-deep but is a huge unknown. Troy Pikes (6-3, 290, r-So.) was a solid rotational piece at Georgia Southern last year and should also factor into the equation. How good is he after transferring up a level? It’s hard to say.
Shawn Murphy (6-3, 231, r-Jr.) is originally from Manassas. He couldn’t get on the field at Alabama or Florida State (111 snaps in three years) and is now trying his hand at his third school. He played 77 snaps for a woeful FSU team last year and might find himself in the starting lineup for the Gamecocks.
Alabama transfer Justin Okoronwko (6-3, 231, So.) could also find himself in the two-deep at linebacker. He played 31 defensive snaps for the Crimson Tide as a freshman. Is he ready to play a lot of snaps at this level? We’ll see. Jaron Willis (6-2, 254, r-Jr.) has played 57 snaps in three years of college football and could be called upon to play a much bigger role.
Fred Johnson (6-3, 244, So.) could be the best of the bunch. He went to Maury High School in Norfolk. However, he has played just 82 snaps of college football.
Overall, this is as inexperienced a linebacker corps as Virginia Tech will face this season, and outside of Stewart, the entire defensive front is a big question mark. Run the dang ball, man. Also, run some misdirection to get these inexperienced and unproven players moving in the wrong direction.
South Carolina doesn’t have the same inexperience issues in the secondary. Jalon Kilgore (6-1, 211, Jr.) is an excellent player who has started since he set foot on campus. He plays the nickel role for the Gamecocks, and with 1,547 career snaps, he’s one of the most experienced players on the team. A former Freshman All-American, he’s a definite All-SEC candidate in 2025 — and potentially an All-American candidate.
Starting safety DQ Smith (6-1, 219, Sr.) has even more snaps than Kilgore with 2,375. He’s also a former Freshman All-American who has started since he arrived in Columbia. Smith is almost always in the right spot. However, he can struggle with tackling in space at times, with 32 missed tackles in his career. Isolating him against Takye Heath could be beneficial. The other starting safety is Peyton Williams (6-0, 219, r-Jr.), who doesn’t have a ton of on-field experience but was good when called upon last year, particularly when he had to play 63 snaps in his one start against Vanderbilt.
The cornerbacks should be solid. Judge Collier (6-2, 201, Jr.) started every game last season as a sophomore. He struggled a bit out of the gate, particularly with his tackling, but he settled down and had a solid season. NC State transfer Brandon Cisse (6-0, 190, Jr.) had a good year for the Wolfpack in 2024, only allowing 14 completions on 27 attempts over the course of 361 snaps.
Overall, South Carolina’s secondary appears to be good, but outside of Stewart, the rest of the defense is questionable. There is a ton of unknown. The Gamecocks could end up being very good or they could take a fairly substantial step back from last season.
Virginia Tech-South Carolina Prediction Poll
Before our staff makes their picks, tell us what you think will happen Sunday.Final Thoughts
The national pundits are very high on South Carolina, which I think is mostly based on the star power. Sellers was a human highlight reel last year at quarterback and Stewart is as talented as any defensive end in the country. They were both freshmen and the Gamecocks ran off a six-game winning streak before dropping the bowl game to Illinois. There’s a lot of positive momentum.But that positive momentum, plus the hype surrounding Sellers and Stewart, hides the fact that there is a ton of unknown on both sides of the ball. You think Virginia Tech has unproven wideouts? Well, so do the Gamecocks. Not happy with Hokie linebacker play the last few years? Well, how’d you like it if your most experienced linebacker is a guy who couldn’t play for a 2-10 Florida State team?
On paper, this isn’t a horrible matchup for the Hokies. I know a number of fans who are absolutely dreading it. They see the two stars and are disappointed in Virginia Tech’s 2024 performance. It’s understandable. But they don’t know anything about the rest of the Gamecock players, and near as I can tell, most of the roster — and even most of the starters — are completely unproven. I’ve said for quite awhile now that I think the Hokies will play better in this game than most of the fan base seems to believe, and I stand by it.
South Carolina is one of those teams who I believe could be the 13th-best team in the country. But there is also so much unknown that I can also see the Gamecocks being the 35th-best team in the country. It’s simply too early to tell.
I do think the newness of Tech’s defense — players and coaches — will help the Hokies. I believe Sam Siefkes is a huge improvement over Chris Marve in terms of in-game adjustments, too. I’m intrigued about the Kyron Drones-Philip Montgomery combination. I’m neither optimistic or pessimistic about it; I’m simply intrigued. I think Montgomery is an upgrade over Bowen, though.
I’m not picking Virginia Tech to win, though. I (along with David Cunningham) am riding a 12-game winning streak when it comes to picking games. After Vanderbilt last year, I knew how I would pick games for the rest of the year. If I thought it was going to be close, I would pick the Hokies to lose. It was as simple as that.
Brent Pry is 1-12 in one-score games. Part of the reason for that is now gone (Marve, Bowen and S&C coach Dwight Galt IV). Not all of it, though. There were also clock management problems at times, not to mention that it’s against the rules to have two players with the same number on the field at the same time, which happened TWICE last season (one of which wasn’t caught by the refs). I think he improved his coaching staff. What about everything else? We don’t know.
There’s a ton of unknown in this game, from both a player standpoint (both sides) and a coaching standpoint (mostly Virginia Tech). I think this one will be closer than most think, but I’m going to continue to pick the Hokies to lose close games until I see them do otherwise.
Chris’ Prediction: South Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 23
Will Stewart (Founder and General Manager): My middle son graduated from South Carolina (CS 2023), and I’ve got nieces and nephews who graduated from there, as well as a handful of Radford kids that I’ve known over the years, so I’m really enjoying this matchup. The Gamecocks have long been one of my favorite teams, and I’ve got a few Gamecock items in my man-cave basement.
Working to Virginia Tech’s advantage: South Carolina has had a lot of roster turnover, especially on defense. The Hokies are complete unknowns on offense and defense, with new coordinators on both sides, so game film is non-existent.
The Gamecocks don’t start the season particularly strong in the opening game under Shane Beamer. After beating Eastern Illinois 46-0 in Beamer’s first game in Columbia in 2021, the last three years have gone like this:
- 2022: USC 35, Georgia State 14: GA State led 14-12 early in the 3rd quarter.
- 2023: UNC 31, USC 17: A loss to the Heels. Nuff said (UNC went 8-5).
- 2024: USC 23, ODU 19: ODU led 19-16 with ten minutes to go.
Working to South Carolina’s advantage: they have a more talented roster, and this will basically be a home game for the Gamecocks, as I anticipate USC fans will greatly outnumber Hokie fans. Virginia Tech’s turnover on the coaching staff can be a plus, but it can also be a minus. We’ll know more about that as the season goes along.
I’m drinking the Kool-Aid and thinking this game will be closer than most are predicting. Then again, the spread is only 7.5 points, so it’s not as if a three-score blowout is anticipated.
Ultimately, South Carolina has the two best players on the field, guys who can be game-changers. That said, if Kyron Drones returns to his 2023 form, the gap at the QB position between Drones and Sellers isn’t as big as people think. But over on the defensive side of the ball, the Hokies don’t have anyone with the pedigree of Dylan Stewart.
Season openers can be crazy, unpredictable affairs, but ultimately, I’m picking based on overall roster talent for the Gamecocks, a home field advantage, and Sellers and Stewart being great players.
Will’s Prediction: South Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 17
David Cunningham (Managing Editor): Chris analyzed the Gamecocks very well in his preview, and it actually made me feel better about the Hokies’ chances in this game. I think this Virginia Tech team, despite having fewer stars, is set up for more success than last year’s group because the culture is better and the coordinators and coaching staff are improved.
That doesn’t guarantee anything, though. Can Philip Montgomery and Sam Siefkes catch South Carolina off balance and effectively make in-game adjustments? I believe they’re going to put their players in much better positions to succeed, but will those guys make plays? Questions after questions after questions, and we, the media, (understandably, but frustratingly) haven’t seen anything of substance in August to draw any conclusions.
As a result, I’m taking the Gamecocks. As Chris detailed, they’re also full of unknowns, but they have the two best players on the field in Sellers and Stewart. I also believe that Shane Beamer is a better in-game coach than Brent Pry. (Unless I’m missing something, I’ve never seen Beamer have any clock management issues.)
I expect Tech to keep it close but play from behind for most of the game, with South Carolina distancing itself in the second half.
(I’m stoked to see Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first time, by the way. My media colleagues have raved about it. I’ll have to provide a review after this weekend.)
David’s Prediction: South Carolina 31, Virginia Tech 16
Andy Bitter (Senior Staff Writer): It's tougher than ever to project how good teams are going to be coming out of the summer in the transfer portal era. So much is new on both sides of the ball, so while I think South Carolina is the better team in this game and I think the Gamecocks will win this one, I truly don't know if USC is worthy of its No. 13 preseason ranking.
Nick Brown (Director of Media): It’s that time of year again where every college football fan is filled with excitement and hope leading up to kickoff… except for Virginia Tech fans. I have only seen pessimistic posts on Twitter and the message boards ever since the Hokies wrapped up their bowl game against Minnesota.
I’ll cut to the chase. Do I think Virginia Tech is going to beat South Carolina? Nah, but I do think it will be a very exciting, close game that unfortunately will make Tech fans have deja vu from the Miami game last season.
All of the offseason hype surrounding the Gamecocks is purely based off of two exceptional players. The rest of the team is a big fat question mark. I absolutely see a version of the game in which the Hokies punch USC in the mouth and win the game (much like the 2021 UNC game), but I do think it’s more likely that South Carolina guts out the W. The Gamecocks will score a touchdown in the final few minutes to make the score look more lopsided.
Nick’s Prediction: South Carolina 31, Virginia Tech 20