South Carolina gets its first night game at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, and the opponent is a familiar kind of September test: an FCS team trying to slow down a Gamecock offense that just lit up the scoreboard.
The Gamecocks will host Towson at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 after opening the season with a 57-0 rout of Kent State on Sept. 5.
The game will air on SEC Network Plus/ESPN+. There’s no line yet on Draft Kings or Vegas Insider, and there might not be one given that Towson is an FCS opponent.
It will also be the first meeting between the programs.
South Carolina’s opener was the kind of debut first-year offensive coordinator Kendal Briles had to like. The Gamecocks piled up 645 yards, their first 600-yard game since against Wofford on Nov. 23, 2024, and the fifth-most total yards in program history.
They moved the chains 35 times, punted only once on the opening drive, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers was sharp, going 19 for 23 for 270 yards and three touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, the defense delivered its first shutout since beating Eastern Illinois 46-0 on Sept.
4, 2021.
Towson arrives at 0-2 after losses to Maine, 21-18, and Navy, 42-15. The Tigers were gashed for 507 rushing yards by Navy, and this is their second and final game against FBS opponents this season.
Towson is 1-16 all-time against FBS teams, with the lone win coming against Connecticut on Aug. 29, 2013.
Pete Shinnick is in his fourth season leading the Tigers. Before taking over at Towson, he guided West Florida to the 2019 Division II national championship. Towson has finished .500 or better in six of its last seven seasons.
There are a few names to keep an eye on for both sides. For South Carolina, Donovan Murph made an immediate impact in the opener, catching four passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns after appearing in 12 games and making four starts last season.
The former Irmo High standout graduated high school a year early. Linebacker Justin Okoronkwo also deserves attention after transferring from Alabama and tying for the team lead in tackles with 64 last season.
He played 29 snaps against Kent State, second-most among Gamecock linebackers, and finished with three tackles.
Towson’s offense runs through quarterback Andrew Indorf, who started as a true freshman last season, earned CAA Co-Rookie of the Year honors and finished in the top 15 of Jerry Rice Award voting. The Florida native threw for 2,344 yards, 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions last season, and through two games this year he has completed 28 of 39 passes for 475 yards and four touchdowns.
Linebacker Ben Kumpon, one of the team captains, leads the Tigers with 16 tackles this season. He started all 12 games as a freshman last year and led all first-year players with 33 tackles.
South Carolina’s schedule continues to ramp up after Towson. Mississippi State comes to Columbia on Sept. 19 at 4:15 p.m. on SEC Network, followed by a Sept. 26 trip to Alabama with a night game designation. The Gamecocks then host Kentucky on Oct. 3, go to Florida on Oct. 10, have a bye week on Oct. 17, and continue with Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Georgia and Clemson to finish out the season.
In Other News...
South Carolina Fans Will Notice A Different Williams-Brice Atmosphere Saturday
Williams-Brice Stadium will look and feel a little different Saturday when South Carolina hosts Towson for its annual Salute the Troops game. The Gamecocks are leaning into a full day of pageantry, with military honors, auctions, merchandise sales and other fan-focused activities part of the game-day mix, while also working to smooth out some of the experience issues that showed up last time fans filled the building.
Around the game itself, the school has lined up extra events meant to stretch the atmosphere well beyond kickoff, including stadium tours and pep rallies. For South Carolina, it is a chance to make the setting feel more polished and more festive at once, with the tributes to service members at the center and the fan experience under a closer spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Beamer Just Sent A Clear Message About South Carolina Leadership
Shane Beamer shook up a familiar tradition by naming six team captains just about 48 hours before South Carolina opens the 2025 season, giving the clubhouse, as much as the locker room, an early read on who the players trust most. The group, chosen by vote, includes quarterback LaNorris Sellers, tight end Brady Hunt, linebackers Fred Johnson and Shawn Murphy, and defensive backs Gerald Kilgore and Peyton Williams, a cross-section of the roster that suggests Beamer wanted leadership spread across the offense and defense.
The timing was no accident. Beamer said the move was designed to address leadership concerns from last season, and the decision also gives the Gamecocks a chance to let those voices set the tone before the first snap matters. The captaincy votes will be revisited after the season, but for now South Carolina has made its priorities plain: establish accountability early, lean on player buy-in and see whether this group can steady the team from the start. [Read more 🡒]
Gamecocks Still Have One O-Line Decision Looming As Peak Nears Return
Jacarrius Peaks arrival was supposed to give South Carolina another experienced option up front, but the N.C. State transfer has spent the opening stretch working back from a knee injury suffered soon after he joined the program. He did not play in the season opener, leaving the Gamecocks to lean on freshman Darius Gray and transfer Dayne Arnett at tackle while the staff managed the line without one of its anticipated additions.
Shane Beamer said Peaks return is expected soon, and once he is healthy, the coaches will sort out where he fits. That creates one more live decision for an offensive line that has already had to adjust on the fly, with the Gamecocks now waiting to see whether Peak slides into a starting job or gives them needed depth as they head deeper into the season. [Read more 🡒]