South Carolina’s 2026 season will move quickly from the opener into a first-night spotlight, and the Gamecocks already know who is waiting in Week 2. Towson will come to Williams-Brice Stadium on Sept. 12 for a 7 p.m. kickoff on SEC Network Plus, and the matchup will also be South Carolina’s annual Salute The Troops game.
It will be the first meeting between the schools. South Carolina has never faced Towson in its 132-year football history, even though the Gamecocks have played plenty of FCS opponents over the years. Towson’s path to this point has been a long one, starting as a Division III program in 1969 before moving to Division II in 1979 and then joining the FCS in 1987.
The Tigers do have one notable tie to Columbia. Towson athletic director Steve Eigenbrot spent 12 years in the USC athletic department, rising to deputy AD before taking the Towson job in 2022.
On the field, Towson is coming off a 6-6 season in Pete Shinnick’s third year leading the program. The Tigers were slotted sixth in the Coastal Athletic Association’s 2026 predicted order of finish by the league’s head coaches.
Towson’s preseason recognition was limited, but it did include a few key names. Offensive lineman KJ Brooks was the team’s lone selection on the preseason All-CAA offense. The senior started all 12 games last season and had already earned Freshman All-American honors in 2023 from Phil Steele, STATS Perform and FCS Football Central.
At quarterback, Towson should lean on sophomore Andrew Indorf, who was named a Preseason All-CAA honorable mention. Indorf took home CAA Co-Rookie of the Year honors last season after throwing for 2,344 yards and 16 touchdowns while giving the ball away just four times.
He also finished 15th nationally in voting for the Jerry Rice Award. Towson is bringing back its second-leading rusher, Kemarrion Battles, who ran for 381 yards last year, and its fourth-leading receiver, Cleveland Charlton, who finished with 209 receiving yards.
The bigger issue for Towson may be what it has to replace on defense. The Tigers lost their top 11 tacklers from last season’s roster.
South Carolina, meanwhile, will enter the game as a heavy favorite. ESPN Analytics gives the Gamecocks a 99% chance to beat Towson, and with no major sportsbook odds posted yet, the expectation is that Vegas will land in the same place.
Upsets do happen - four FCS teams knocked off FBS opponents last year, with Tarleton State, Austin Peay, LIU and Bryant all pulling it off - but Towson has only one FBS win in program history, a 2013 victory over UConn. The last FCS team to beat a Power 4 opponent was Sacramento State, which beat Stanford 30-23 in 2023.
South Carolina’s full 2026 schedule includes Kent State on Sept. 5 at 12:45 p.m. on SEC Network, Towson on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus, Mississippi State on Sept. 19 at 4:15 p.m. on SEC Network, a Sept. 26 night game at Alabama, an Oct. 3 home game against Kentucky listed as flex, an Oct. 10 trip to Florida as an early game, a bye on Oct. 17, then Tennessee at home on Oct. 24, Oklahoma on Oct.
31, Texas A&M on Nov. 7, Arkansas on Nov.
14, Georgia on Nov. 21 and Clemson on Nov. 28.
In Other News...
South Carolina Tight End Battle Could Shape Kendal Briles New Offense
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Clemsons Preseason Ranking Says Everything About Expectations Right Now
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For South Carolina, the unranked-but-not-ignored status is its own kind of commentary. It suggests the Gamecocks are still on the radar, but not yet in the group the coaches are ready to trust, and it leaves plenty of room for the kind of September proving ground that can change a seasons tone quickly. For a team trying to climb back into the national conversation, the opening expectations are clear enough: there is work to do before anyone starts treating this as more than a team with a pulse. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Still Has One Big Receiver Question For 2026
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Kendal Briles has pointed to a group of young receivers as the names to watch, which tells you the competition is far from settled. One of the more interesting pieces is newcomer Sequel Patterson, who missed spring practice while finishing his basketball and track seasons and is now working to make up ground in summer workouts, a reminder that South Carolinas receiver picture for 2026 is still very much taking shape. [Read more 🡒]