LSU Travels East to Take on South Carolina

There is already excitement in Columbia as fans prepare for the highly anticipated SEC matchup between No. 16 LSU (1-1) and the South Carolina Gamecocks (2-0, 1-0), with College GameDay in town for the first time in 10 years.

The Gamecocks are looking to preserve their undefeated season.

Previous Games

South Carolina is hot.

The Gamecocks shocked the college football world last weekend when they beat up on Kentucky 31-6 in the SEC season opener. The defense kept Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff to just 44 yards passing. This was the Gamecocks’ lowest overall yardage allowed since holding Eastern Illinois to only 109 in 2021.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly discusses his thoughts on this South Carolina team and defense.

This dominating win came at a surprise, as South Carolina barely scrapped by Old Dominion 23-19 in Week 1. The Gamecocks entered the season with a not so pretty 5-7 record last year. Against ODU, the problems from past season did not seem to have been fixed. The Gamecocks’ freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers did not have a fantastic debut as he completed 10 of 23 passes.

This was a game that was really only won because of the Monarch’s mistakes. South Carolina recovered two fumbles that led to its only two touchdowns of the day.

However, the Kentucky game was a different story. Sanders threw two touchdown passes and the defense had five sacks. Everything was firing on all cylinders.

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer discusses how important this win was for his team.

LSU has not been silent themselves with a close fight against No. 23 USC last week where the Trojans Woody Marks’ scored with eight seconds left.

This game saw powerful play from Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier who completed 29 of 38 passes for 304 yards with two touchdowns. Nussmeier has had 300-plus yards in each of the first two games.

Key Matchups

The Tigers are projected to win this game in Columbia.

To change this narrative, the Gamecocks have to keep up their defensive energy and toughness against a tough LSU QB. They also have to be mindful of the Tiger’s running back play. LSU has a trio of effective running backs in John Emery Jr., Josh Williams, and Kaleb Jackson. Emery went 10 carries for 61 yards in the loss to USC.

Beamer shares his thoughts on the South Carolina running backs.

For LSU, they have to prepare for South Carolina’s defense by using both their throwing game and running game.

Kelly talks about how his team has to prepare after facing man coverage for the past two games.

The game kicks off on Saturday in Columbia at 12pm on ABC/ESPN+.