South Carolina comes back from its bye week with a marquee SEC matchup waiting at Williams-Brice Stadium, and the early betting market says this one should be tight. The Gamecocks host No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN, with the Volunteers opening as a 2.5-point favorite before the line settled at 1.5 points on Draft Kings and VegasInsider.
The Gamecocks enter at 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the SEC after snapping a three-game losing streak with a convincing win at Florida on Oct. 10.
That result gave Shane Beamer’s team some breathing room heading into the second half of the season. Tennessee, meanwhile, arrives at 6-1 and 3-1 in conference play after knocking off Alabama.
History leans heavily toward the Volunteers. Tennessee owns a 29-11-2 edge in the series, which dates to 1903, and won the most recent meeting 40-21 on Sept. 30, 2023 in Knoxville.
In that game, Joe Milton threw for 239 yards and a touchdown, Jaylen Wright ran for 123 yards and a score, and Tennessee piled up 477 yards. South Carolina’s last win in the series at Williams-Brice came on Nov. 20, 2022, when the Gamecocks rolled to a 63-38 victory, fans rushed the field, and Spencer Rattler threw for 438 yards and a school-record six touchdowns.
South Carolina’s recent surge started with its defense. Against Florida, the Gamecocks forced three turnovers, which was one more than they had forced in the previous five games combined.
LaNorris Sellers also put together one of his best performances of the season, and Dylan Stewart made an impact after returning from a one-game suspension. Beamer, who started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Tennessee from 2001-03 under Phillip Fulmer, is 1-2 all-time as a head coach against the Volunteers.
Tennessee’s latest win came in dominant fashion. The Vols beat No.
6 Alabama 26-10 for their third straight victory, and the SEC later fined the school $500,000 after fans stormed the field. Tennessee shut out Alabama in the second half, held the Crimson Tide to 201 yards and recorded five sacks against QB Keelon Russell.
The 10 points were Alabama’s lowest total in the series since 2005.
That defensive edge has been a major story for Tennessee all season. The Vols lead the SEC in scoring defense at 14.7 points allowed per game and rank second in pass defense at 159.2 yards allowed per game. Much of that has come under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who arrived from Penn State after also winning a national championship at Ohio State.
Tennessee has also settled into a new quarterback after George MacIntyre made his second straight start. He stepped in for highly touted freshman Faizon Brandon, who has been dealing with shoulder issues. Through two starts, MacIntyre has completed 39 of 60 passes for 444 yards and a touchdown.
For South Carolina, Sellers remains the engine. Against Florida, he threw for 279 yards and accounted for five total touchdowns, marking the fourth time in his career he has had four or more touchdowns in a game. He ranks fourth among SEC quarterbacks in total offense at 291 yards per game and leads SEC quarterbacks in total offense against conference opponents at 315.7 yards per game.
Another key piece for the Gamecocks has been Tomiwa Durojaiye, the transfer from Illinois who is now at his fifth school. The Pennsylvania native has helped stabilize the defensive line, especially against the run. He ranks sixth on the team with 19 tackles, leads the team with 4.5 tackles for loss, and is second with two sacks.
Tennessee’s offense runs through Desean Bishop, the Knoxville product who leads the Vols at running back. Bishop ranks second in the SEC with 837 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
He went for 159 yards and two scores against Alabama, his second-best rushing total in a game in his career. Bishop now has 29 career touchdowns, which is fifth-most in school history, and he has scored in 15 of Tennessee’s last 17 games.
On the defensive front, Xavier Gilliam has given the Vols an immediate boost in his first season. The junior followed Knowles from Penn State and was rated the sixth-best defensive line transfer by 247Sports. He has 23 tackles, including a team-high 10.5 for loss, along with five sacks and a team-high six quarterback pressures.
South Carolina’s schedule resumes with Tennessee before a trip to Oklahoma on Oct. 31, then home games against Texas A&M and Georgia, and road games at Arkansas and Clemson to close the regular season.
In Other News...
South Carolina Fans Need To Plan Ahead For Tennessee At Williams-Brice
With Tennessee set to visit Williams-Brice Stadium at 3:35 p.m. on ESPN, South Carolina fans are being asked to plan a little differently for one of the bigger home dates on the schedule. The matchup arrives with the South Carolina State Fair creating altered traffic and parking arrangements around campus, so anyone heading in for the game will want to give themselves extra time before kickoff.
There will still be plenty to do once fans get there, with game day experiences and events, auctions, entertainment and merchandise sales all part of the lead-up around the stadium. Even with the logistics a little different than usual, it should still have the feel of a full Saturday in Columbia once the crowd settles in for Tennessee and the Gamecocks. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolinas Rebuilt Lineup Just Gave Fans Real Reason For Optimism
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For a team trying to rebuild around a fresh core, that kind of opener matters more than the final score alone. The Gamecocks still have another exhibition on the schedule before the regular season begins, which should provide another chance to sort out rotations and see how much of this early chemistry can carry forward once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina's Offensive Surge Now Rides On One Big SEC Question
Midway through the 2026 season, South Carolinas offense has gone from an early question mark to one of the steadier parts of the team under new coordinator Kendal Briles. The Gamecocks are averaging 31 points per game against SEC opponents and have climbed to 10th nationally in rushing yards, with quarterback LaNorris Sellers navigating some early frustration from pass drops before settling in after a team meeting. The line has been better, too, cutting down the sacks that piled up a year ago and helping the whole operation look more functional.
Now the focus shifts to how sustainable all of that is once the schedule tightens and defenses keep forcing Sellers to prove it through the air. His improved showing in the win against Florida was a useful sign, but South Carolinas offensive surge still comes with one big SEC-level test attached: whether the passing game can keep growing enough to match the ground production. If it does, the Gamecocks will have a much different kind of ceiling than they did at the start of the year. [Read more 🡒]