After beating the Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 27-24 for the first night game win at home since 2016, which was ironically also against the Volunteers, South Carolina (4-3, 3-3 SEC) is set to travel to Oxford, Mississippi this week to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (5-3, 1-3 SEC).
This will be the first game against the Rebels since 2009, and the first time South Carolina will play in Oxford since the 2008 season. With how up and down this season has been for the Gamecocks, this game should be well worth the wait.
This season has not gone as expected both on and off the field. A lot of the preseason momentum was taken away by a 41-17 loss to Georgia at home in the second week of the season. With how the schedule was set up, many fans were expecting a “tune up” game against the Marshall Thundering Herd.
However, that was not the case.
Because of Hurricane Florence and the impact that it had in both Richland County and the state of South Carolina, the game against the Thundering Herd was cancelled. This prevented the Gamecocks from having their “tune up” game before entering the always-tough SEC slate.
The Gamecocks were able to bounce back against Vanderbilt, but South Carolina couldn’t manage to keep its winning ways as the Gamecocks lost to Kentucky in a game that was filled with mistakes.
South Carolina then returned to Williams-Brice Stadium for the entire month of October, where the team continued to be inconsistent. South Carolina beat Missouri, followed by a loss to Texas A&M and a win against Tennessee. The Gamecocks have yet to win back-to-back games this season.
Now the Gamecocks must travel to Ole Miss and take on an electric Rebel offense, hoping to get their fifth win of the season and to help their case for a bowl game at the end of the season. The Rebels have produced 4,303 yards on offense this year and have the second best total offense in the SEC, only behind defending national champion Alabama.
While the Rebels would still be an offensive juggernaut even if the Gamecocks had played eight games like they thought they would have, not playing a game on Sept. 15 has left fans feeling more anxious about the team’s bowl hopes.
Not being able to lick some of the wounds from a tough Georgia loss with a non-conference game has resulted in the Ole Miss game having a bigger impact on a potential bowl game than originally thought.
A win against Ole Miss could make the difference in a 7-5 season and a 6-6 season. After Ole Miss, the Gamecocks play Florida, Chattanooga and Clemson. The school has been in discussions with other schools about making up the cancelled game from Sept. 15, but an opponent has not been decided.
Going into the Ole Miss game, the Gamecocks are 4-3 and must reach six wins in order to become bowl eligible.
It would be safe to assume that the Gamecocks will beat FCS opponent Chattanooga and the team that athletic director Ray Tanner schedules for Dec. 1. On the other side, Florida and Clemson are both away from Columbia and are very talented teams, making those games more likely to be losses than wins.
For those counting at home, that leaves the Gamecocks with a 6-5 record without counting the game against the Ole Miss Rebels. The Rebels certainly are a very beatable team, but they do have one of the best offenses in the SEC.
If the Gamecocks take care of business, they would be just one win away from bowl eligibility and would have a clear path to a respectable 7-5 record. If the Gamecocks lose to Ole Miss, the margin of error would be much thinner and would clear the path for a lower quality bowl game.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Gamecocks a 49.7 percent chance to beat the Rebels, which is essentially a toss-up. The Gamecocks hope to take care of business against a beatable Ole Miss team and improve their resumé for a potential bowl game.
The Gamecocks will kick off against the Rebels on Saturday at noon/11 a.m. Central Standard Time in Oxford, Mississippi, and can be seen on the SEC Network.