Oklahoma 2025 Football Opponent Preview: South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina’s game against Oklahoma last year was the start of the Gamecocks’ turnaround.

After starting the year 3-3, the Gamecocks beat OU 35-9 in Norman to eclipse .500. They went on to win their next five games, falling just short of the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma battles South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Here’s what to know about South Carolina:

2024 recap

The Gamecocks looked like SEC bottom feeders early in the 2024 season.

They needed all 60 minutes to win their season opener against Old Dominion, ultimately winning 23-19, before taking care of middling Kentucky and Akron squads. South Carolina, though, struggled to beat quality opponents, losing to LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama in a month’s span to bring them to 3-3.

Everything changed in the Oklahoma game.

The Gamecocks led OU 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, taking a 32-3 advantage into halftime. South Carolina scored two defensive touchdowns in the first quarter.

After that, South Carolina continued to look like one of college football’s best teams.

The Gamecocks beat No. 10 Texas A&M before defeating No. 23 Missouri and No. 12 Clemson to finish the regular season 9-3.

South Carolina finished No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings, narrowly missing the cut to qualify for the 12-team bracket.

The Gamecocks’ season ended with a 21-17 loss to No. 20 Illinois in the Citrus Bowl.

Key returners

QB LaNorris Sellers (So.), WR Nyck Harbor (Jr.), WR Mazeo Bennett Jr. (So.), DE Dylan Stewart (So.), DB DQ Smith (Sr.).

Notable transfer portal additions

RB Rahsul Faison (Utah State), DL Jaylen Brown (Missouri), CB Brandon Cisse (NC State), DL Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy (Texas A&M), QB Air Noland (Ohio State).

Strengths

South Carolina’s offensive explosiveness stands out.

The Gamecocks return Sellers, a dual-threat quarterback who excelled as a freshman last year. He completed 65.6% of his passes for 2,543 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions, also rushing for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.

Weaknesses

The Gamecocks lost their three starters on the interior offensive line, which helped South Carolina average 184.4 yards per game on the ground.

South Carolina picked up three interior linemen — Boaz Stanley (Troy), Rodney Newsom (Western Kentucky) and Nick Sharpe (Wake Forest) — from the transfer portal. 247Sports graded Newsom as a 4-star transfer, while Stanley and Sharpe received 3-star grades.

Much of the Gamecocks’ rushing success will likely depend on how well those three, assuming they take the starting roles, click. If they do, the run-game combo of Sellers and Faison will be tough for opposing defenses to stop.

How do the Gamecocks match up with OU?

As mentioned, South Carolina’s run game should be similarly strong in 2024, as long as the Gamecocks see quality play from their linemen.

Sellers is widely considered one of the best returning quarterbacks in the SEC, given his accuracy and dual-threat capabilities.

The Sooners have one of the conference’s most experienced front sevens, which should ultimately help against a team that’s so efficient on the ground. That said, the Gamecocks have so many different weapons, that it will be tough to completely stall their offense.

Stewart leads a stingy South Carolina defensive line, one that will be even tougher to face at Williams Brice Stadium.