South Carolina's five most important games of 2024 college football season (2024)

5. at Kentucky (Sept. 7)

The ultimate "swing game" for South Carolina this season. Beat Kentucky and the Gameco*cks have a clear path to bowl eligibility and finishing with marked improvement during Beamer's fourth campaign. However, a road loss in Week 2 to the Wildcats makes the uphill climb to six wins that much steeper considering the wealth of nationally-ranked opponents still left on the schedule, including Ole Miss and trips to Oklahoma and Alabama. When the Gameco*cks won eight games in 2022, the turning point victory came against Kentucky in Lexington, 24-14, in primetime.

See Also

Kim Graham, C.J. Spiller to be Inducted into Clemson Ring of Honor

That victory marked the end of a futile stretch of play against the Wildcats and gave South Carolina fans something positive following an 0-2 start to SEC play that campaign. Digging out of a similar hole in 2024 might not be doable, which makes this early-season contest so unique — and important — to success. This will be starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers' first road setting in a hostile environment and will show the world whether South Carolina's offensive line has improved or remains one of the weaknesses on the team. There will be a lot of pressure moving forward on this year's team if Kentucky wins at Kroger Field.

4. vs. Missouri (Nov. 16)

South Carolina's last win over Missouri came in 2019. Since, the Tigers have simply been the more physical football team in every matchup and offensivegiveaways have doomed the Gameco*cks. What are the keys to turning the tide this season on Eli Drinkwitz's crew? It starts with better execution and a hotter start in the first half. Too many times against Missouri, the Gameco*cks have shot themselves in the foot or dug a hole early in the matchup. And Missouri is the type of team that feeds off an early lead and likes to salt it away for the remainder of the game.

Given the fact Missouri is a likely preseason top-10 team this season coming off 11 wins with the bulk of its firepower returning offensively, stopping the Tigers will be a tall task for the Gameco*cks, even inside the friendly confines of Williams-Brice Stadium. That said, if South Carolina can combine a home win over Texas A&M the previous week with a victory here, we'll be referencing November 2024 in the same breath as the 2022 season when two memorable performances over Tennessee and Clemson brought Beamer quite a bit of national notoriety and a contract extension. November, once again, means everything for the Gameco*cks this fall.

3. at Clemson (Nov. 30)

It might be sacrilegious to keep this one outside of the top 2, but from a bowl eligibility standpoint, there's a couple more games that — at least on paper — appear more favorable from a win percentage standpoint. South Carolina's won at Clemson only once this decade, doing so in 2022 under Beamer to snap the Tigers' record and nation-leading home winning streak. The Tigers have the better roster once again, but this isn't an impossible task for the Gameco*cks. South Carolina will likely be at least a touchdown underdog on the road and won't be picked by many (if any) to win this one.

This game's more important for Beamer than arguably any othertilt on the schedule. He's seen the highs — the 2022 win — and the lows — getting shutout at home in 2021 and nearly blanked against last season after mustering just 169 yards of total offense. If South Carolina enters this matchup at 5-6 overall in need of a victory for the postseason —similar to how the 2023 campaign played out — fans and various boosters will be quite feisty should the Gameco*cks lay an egg in Death Valley entering the offseason.

2. vs. LSU (Sept. 14)

South Carolina's football schedule is always a challenge, but one would think missing annual rivals Georgia, Tennessee and Florida for the first time in decades would make things easier on the Gameco*cks. Hardly. South Carolina hosts LSU and Ole Miss before playing three other top 25 teams on the road. That's five games against teams who could likely be inside the top 15 at the time of contest. The Gameco*cks have two wins over LSU in program history, those coming in 1994 and 1930, both by a single point.

This is not an LSU team that's talented enough to win a national championship this season. Perhaps the Tigers surprise, win nine or 10 games and get to the playoff, but the depth isn't there — like other LSU title-winning behemoths — to do it in 2024 under Brian Kelly. New DC Blake Baker takes over after hitting supernova status last fall at Missouri and he'll bring a unit facing its first road test in Columbia. LSU does play USC in the opener during a neutral-site battle in Las Vegas, so the Tigers will have played a talented team by the time this one kicks off. But South Carolina's back could be against the proverbial wall if the Gameco*cks struggle at Kentucky in Week 2 before this SEC home opener.

1. vs. Texas A&M (Nov. 2)

Coming off an open week after enduring a brutal stretch of three consecutive games against likley preseason top 15 SEC teams, this is where the rubber meets the road for the Gameco*cks. Will South Carolina still have a pulse entering the final month? Could eight or nine wins be a possibility? These are unknowns that will undoubtedly be answered when the Texas A&M showdown is over. Williams-Brice nearly came down in 2022 after Xavier Legette's early kickoff return for a touchdown paved the way for the Gameco*cks' first-ever win over the Aggies.

We've mentioned previously that November will determine bowl eligibility for the Gameco*cks, so this one's vital to that cause. With Vanderbilt and Wofford stacking the win column sandwiched between other showdowns against Missouri and Clemson, the Texas A&M tilt holds substantial merit to get the month started with a bang. It's a good idea to try and get Mike Elko during his first season with the Aggies, too. Texas A&M's booster power is pumping so much money into its program through recruiting the Aggies will be a force in the expanded SEC for the foreseeable future with this staff.