After South Carolina’s tough 41-21 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, it looks like the Gamecocks’ bowl chances are slowly decreasing with a 3-5 record.
In the Football Bowl Subdivision, a team must reach six wins to be eligible for a bowl game. This would mean the Gamecocks would have to go at least 3-1 in their next four games to reach this mark.
This situation didn’t seem likely after the Gamecocks beat the then-No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs on the road and seemed unstoppable two weeks ago. Now, with two back-to-back losses, the 2019 season is looking a bit bleak.
“We know we got four games … we’re going to find this out tomorrow and see where the heart of our team is,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Donnell Stanley said. “We got good guys, it's gonna take it the right way ... and get us there to a bowl game.”
The first of these four opponents is Vanderbilt, and the team will return to Williams-Brice Stadium Nov. 2. With the Commodores coming off an upset win over then-No. 22 Missouri, the Gamecocks will be facing a pumped and motivated Vanderbilt team.
The Gamecocks have won 10 straight games over Vandy, and seem optimistic about bouncing back next Saturday.
“We’re going to go in, get the corrections tomorrow, figure out what we did wrong,” senior linebacker T.J. Brunson said. “And come out here on Tuesday, ready to practice and ready to beat Vanderbilt.”
After the Gamecocks face the Commodores, the No. 21 Appalachian State Mountaineers will come to Williams-Brice Nov. 9. The Mountaineers are currently undefeated and will play Georgia Southern before they face South Carolina.
After App State, South Carolina will travel to College Station to face Texas A&M. Texas A&M is coming off of a 49-30 win over Mississippi State, and the Gamecocks will take a bye-week before they face the always-tough No. 4 Clemson Tigers in the Palmetto Bowl.
Although the rest of the Gamecocks’ schedule looks pretty daunting, head coach Will Muschamp shared some hopeful words, according to redshirt senior running back Tavien Feaster.
“[Muschamp said], 'Finish the season. Finish and don’t give up,'” Feaster said. “Keep your head up, keep running.”
The Gamecocks and Commodores are set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m Nov. 2 at Williams-Brice Stadium and will be televised on the SEC Network.