{"id":68744,"date":"2024-11-22T17:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T22:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=68744"},"modified":"2024-11-22T05:13:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T10:13:17","slug":"south-carolina-vs-wofford-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/11\/22\/south-carolina-vs-wofford-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamecocks vs Wofford Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina Gamecocks will be looking to pick up their fifth straight win this Saturday, welcoming FCS opponent Wofford to Williams-Brice. The Gamecocks will likely use the Terriers as a warmup game before their yearly showdown against hated instate rival Clemson next week.<\/span><\/p>\n

After facing six consecutive SEC opponents, Shane Beamer\u2019<\/a>s squad desperately needs a tune-up against a lesser opponent, and that\u2019s exactly what they\u2019re getting. This doesn\u2019t mean Carolina is looking past Wofford, however. With the penultimate game of South Carolina\u2019s 2024 season on deck, let\u2019s look at what to expect as they take on the Wofford Terriers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wofford at First Glance<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Gamecocks and Terriers are no strangers, with the two sides playing each other five times since the turn of the century. Carolina is 5-0 in those matchups, with the average margin of victory hovering right around two touchdowns. This will be the first time <\/span>the<\/span> two teams face off since 2017 when the Gamecocks won 31-10.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far this season, the Terriers have compiled a less-than-stellar 5-6 record under third-year head coach Shawn Watson. Currently sitting at seventh in the Southern Conference and with any hopes of an FCS playoff bid long dashed, it\u2019s hard to imagine Wofford causing much of a problem for a team of Carolina\u2019s caliber.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, the Terriers do possess several playmakers who warrant respect. Let\u2019s take a look at who these players are and what to expect from them on<\/span>\u00a0Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Terriers to Watch<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The biggest name to watch on Wofford offensively will be senior running back Ryan Ingram. The leading rusher and scorer for the Terriers, Ingram possesses good speed and the prototypical frame you look for in a tailback. While he\u2019s far from the best back Carolina has faced so far, he does represent a threat should they allow him to break loose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively, senior linebacker Jalen Marshall represents the heart of Wofford\u2019s defense. Marshall is the Terriers’ leading tackler with 89 and <\/span>leads the team in tackles for loss with 12. A seasoned veteran with a nose for the football, Marshall is sure to be all over the field come Saturday. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last but not least, senior wideout Kyle Watkins represents the Terriers’ only true deep threat on the outside. Wofford\u2019s leading receiver missed their previous game with an injury but should be good to go come Saturday. Along with Ingram and Marshall, Carolina <\/span>will have to<\/span> keep their eye on Watkins to avoid giving up any costly big plays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Day for Carolina<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The final home game of the season for the Gamecocks as it will be the last time Carolina seniors take the field in Columbia. This team in particular features <\/span>a number of<\/span> upperclassmen who have laid the foundation for the Beamer era. Moreover, the seniors this year were freshmen when Beamer took over, meaning they decided to stay with a coach that didn\u2019t recruit them. The Gamecocks head man talked about these players in particular, and what their contributions have meant to the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year I say this, but this is the group that has been here the longest,\u201d Beamer said. \u201cI wasn’t the coach that they came to play for. This is Year 4 with me. In today’s time, it is so easy <\/span>to just pack up<\/span> and go somewhere else. Man, this guy doesn’t know what he is talking about. <\/span>I didn’t come to play for this idiot <\/span>and<\/span> move<\/span> elsewhere and <\/span>go<\/span> to another team.<\/span> Easily<\/span> could have done that last season when we were 5-7 and they all doubled down on, no, we believe in what we are doing. We believe in this program. We want to leave this place a better place than what it was record-wise in 2023. I am just so happy for them that they are having the success in 2024 that they came back for which is pretty cool.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking over a program in the midst of a downturn is difficult for any coach, but convincing the players who came to play for the previous staff is an almost impossible task. For the players who decided to stick with Beamer, Saturday represents the culmination of all the work they\u2019ve put in the past four seasons. Work that has made the program what it is today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Concerning<\/span> Wofford, the only question regarding this matchup is how much Carolina will win. The Gamecocks have been playing their best football for a long time <\/span>currently<\/span>, and it would be a difficult outing for any team. With the added emotion of senior day mixed in it\u2019s difficult to see any other outcome than a dominant Carolina victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

This game will also serve as much-needed extra preparation before the all-important season finale against Clemson next week. With several key players <\/span>coming back<\/span> from injury, Carolina will be looking to get back to full speed against the Terriers.<\/span><\/p>\n

If all that wasn\u2019t enough, the Gamecocks will be looking to match their best win total in the Beamer era at eight. <\/span>All in all<\/span>, this should be a dominant performance against a lesser opponent, setting up the most important Palmetto Bowl matchup in a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Gamecocks
Photo courtesy: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina Gamecocks will be looking to pick up their fifth straight win this Saturday, welcoming FCS opponent Wofford to Williams-Brice. The Gamecocks will likely use the Terriers as a warmup game before their yearly showdown against hated instate rival Clemson next week. After facing six consecutive SEC opponents, Shane Beamer\u2019s squad desperately needs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5264,"featured_media":68750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[20,149,80,34417],"class_list":["post-68744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-sec","tag-shane-beamer","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks","tag-wofford"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}