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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina’s new-look, up-tempo offense banked some impressive numbers during its inaugural outing under first-year coordinator Kendal Briles. With the 43-year-old former Texas Christian coordinator calling the shots for the first time in Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks steamrolled Kent State 57-0 last Saturday (September 5, 2026) – racking up 645 yards in total offense (including 278 yards on the ground).
To put those numbers in perspective, South Carolina’s offense averaged 22.7 points, 336.3 yards and 111.1 rushing yards per game during its disastrous 4-8 campaign last season.
Were hype a stock, Gamecock fans would be perpetual buyers… and perpetually disappointed in their investment. But those trading on optimism in Columbia, S.C. currently have reason for… well, optimism.
Now, would embattled head coach Shane Beamer‘s squad have looked as good against the team it was supposed to play to open the 2026 campaign? Absolutely not… which is something pollsters took under advisement.
South Carolina was five spots out of the U.S. LBM preseason college football coaches’ poll and six spots out of the preseason Associated Press Top 25 coming into the season (admittedly higher than many expected). Following its emphatic season-opening victory, South Carolina was… you guessed it: five spots out of the coaches’ poll and six spots out of the AP survey.
Somebody cue Shania Twain, right?
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Considering the pollsters were unimpressed by the Gamecocks’ opening act, it seems unlikely they would be swayed in the event South Carolina were to post another lopsided win this coming Saturday (September 12, 2026) against Towson – an FCS opponent that was blown out of the water by unranked Navy in its season opener.
Still, there were some distinct positives from last weekend’s win for long-suffering, hopium-smoking Gamecock fans… with key confidences instilled into a team that desperately needed to get off on the right foot.
The 57 points were the most scored by a South Carolina offense in nearly four years – dating back to the Gamecocks’ shocking 63-38 upset of then-No. 5 Tennessee. South Carolina’s 645 total yards also marked the team’s best performance since putting up a school-record 775 yards against Charleston Southern in 2019.
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers completed 19 of 23 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns prior to giving way to redshirt freshman Cutter Woods early in the third quarter. Woods, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound signal-caller from Anderson, S.C., completed six of eight passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
South Carolina didn’t turn the ball over once and had just three penalties – well below last year’s average of 7.33 penalties per game. Oh, and defensive coordinator Clayton White‘s unit pitched a shutout – limiting the Golden Flashes to just 179 total yards.
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Turn us ? @donovan_murph pic.twitter.com/QKVD17fltB
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 5, 2026
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Make no mistake: the proverbial row gets much tougher to hoe for South Carolina after Towson comes to town. The competition will ratchet up considerably for the Gamecocks in their SEC opener against Mississippi State on September 19 – and the following Saturday, Beamer’s team must travel to Tuscaloosa to play No. 12 Alabama.
It doesn’t get any easier from there…
Multiple games against ranked opponents lurk in October and November – including No. 25 Florida (in the Swamp on October 10), No. 18 Tennessee (at home on October 24), No. 10/11 Oklahoma (in Norman on Halloween), No. 9/10 Texas A&M (at home November 7) and No. 2 Georgia (at home November 21).
Still, Beamer’s team is off to exactly the sort of start it needed (and the sort of start he needed to keep his job)…
Who knows? If South Carolina’s offense builds comfort and confidence over the next two weeks, the Gamecocks could head to the Heart of Dixie later this month as a legitimate upset threat (more so than two years ago when they took the Crimson Tide down to the wire in Tuscaloosa).
Which would mean all those sunshine pumpers and hopium smokers were onto something this offseason, after all…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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SOUND OFF…
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