#MustDo’s for the 2018 season. 🏈
By: Rixon Lane, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media, Lander University. Rixon graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2014 and covered the Gamecocks for multiple media outlets from 2011-16.

Every summer, the excitement begins to build in Columbia. As football season nears, you can hear the hum of anticipation growing from Five Points to Ft. Jackson. This year, however, the Gamecock Football buzz is louder than it’s been in recent years since a certain visored ball coach roamed the sidelines.

With a 9-4 campaign in 2017, prominent returners on both sides of ball and another solid recruiting class set to descend on campus, the South Carolina Gamecocks are poised to potentially to take another step forward under head coach Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks were picked second in the SEC East in the league’s preseason media poll, their highest expected finish since 2014.

Whether you are a longtime season ticket holder or you’d rather pick and choose which games you’ll be tailgating outside of Willy-B, here are three home games Gamecock fans don’t want to miss.

Photo by @dainamriley

🏈South Carolina vs. Georgia

📆 Sat., Sept. 8 | ⏰ 3:30 p.m. | 🎟 Buy tickets ($125+)

After an expected tune-up against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (a proud rooster referenced in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales… saved you a Google search), the Gamecocks jump into the SEC schedule against Georgia.

The Bulldogs were potentially one Nick Saban quarterback change away from a National Championship in 2017 and return 13 starters, making them the favorite in the SEC East. The ‘Dawgs chewed up 242 yards on the ground against South Carolina in a 24-10 win in Athens last November and will be a formidable early test for a Gamecock defense that anchored the team last year.

Offensively, South Carolina will put its up-tempo scheme to the test as new offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon dials up plays for the first time against an SEC defense. Junior quarterback Jake Bentley has struggled in spotlight games during his first two season in Columbia and was picked off twice by the Bulldogs last season. Bentley should have a bevy of weapons at his disposal, as the Gamecocks return Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards, OrTre Smith and Shi Smith at wide receiver.

The Gamecocks and Bulldogs will be playing the primetime CBS game for the third time in five years. DYK – South Carolina is 5-16 all-time on CBS, but 5-0 in the last five home games the network has carried.

A win over UGA will give the Gamecocks an immediate leg up in the division race and serve notice that South Carolina is a serious conference contender in 2018. If the Gamecocks do win, however, don’t start booking hotels in Atlanta just yet. The winner of the USC-UGA game has only advanced to the SEC Championship game twice in the last 12 years.

🏈South Carolina vs. Missouri

📆 Sat., Oct. 6 | ⏰ TBD | 🎟 Buy tickets ($56+)

The Gamecocks return to Williams-Brice Stadium after wrapping up September with a pair of SEC road battles against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. If all goes according to plan, South Carolina will enter the month of October flying high. The Gamecocks should be favored in four of their first five games and will begin a three-game conference home stretch with another division matchup against Missouri.

The contest will feature two quarterbacks with possible NFL futures in S.C.’s Bentley and Mizzou’s Drew Lock.

The Tigers racked up 423 total yards in last season’s meeting, but the Gamecocks took advantage of three turnovers – including a pair of Lock interceptions – to claim a 31-13 road victory. South Carolina has won four of its six meetings against the Tigers since Missouri entered the SEC in 2012, but the Gamecocks have had to watch Missouri play in a pair of conference championship games. Combine that with some of the animosity that has arisen between the two schools in recents years (fans throwing water bottles at Lock in 2016, the Jim Sterk/Dawn Staley fiasco during women’s basketball season) and you have a game that should be more emotionally charged than most midseason contests.

South Carolina’s record in home October games has been very impressive, going 15-3 since 2009. The Gamecocks have also won each of their last four home contests in October.

Ultimately, this game will come down to South Carolina’s front four. Javon Kinlaw, D.J. Wonnum, Shameik Blackshear and Keir Thomas must find a way to pressure Lock. The Gamecocks have held Mizzou to 18.8 points per game over the last six seasons.

A similar defensive performance should be enough to keep the Mayor’s Cup in Columbia, S.C.

🏈South Carolina vs. Texas A&M

📆 Sat., Oct. 13 | ⏰ TBD | 🎟 Buy tickets ($47+)

A chance to get bowl eligible and earn the program’s first win ever over a conference foe? The Gamecocks may have a chance to accomplish both when the Texas A&M Aggies come to town. South Carolina has a legitimate chance to bring a 5-1 record into the contest, and the Gamecocks will be hungry to avenge some painful previous losses to the Aggies.

Texas A&M opened the series with a 52-28 thumping of South Carolina in 2014 – a loss that signaled the beginning of the end of the Steve Spurrier Era. The Gamecocks appeared to be cruising towards a road win in College Station last season, but the Aggies rallied for 17 unanswered points over the game’s final 16 minutes to hand South Carolina its second straight conference loss.

This game is arguably the biggest toss-up on the schedule for the Gamecocks, and the Williams-Brice Stadium crowd will need to be in peak form for South Carolina to end its streak of misery against A&M. The contest will only be the Aggies’ second game outside the state of Texas on the year and the furthest trip Texas A&M will make all season.

In order to secure a victory, the Gamecocks will have to generate a ground attack. In last year’s loss, South Carolina managed a paltry 23 yards rushing on 26 attempts. The inability to run the ball contributed to the Gamecocks’ converting just 2-of-13 third down opportunities and holding the ball for only 10:13 in the second half.

Whether its A.J. Turner, Ty’Son Williams, Rico Dowdle or Mon Denson, South Carolina’s tailbacks will play a key role in determining whether the Gamecocks can finally topple the Aggies.

Williams-Brice Stadium on a Saturday in the fall is a truly unique experience. Whether you’re a student, alum, fan or just visiting Columbia, you won’t want to miss “2001,” “Sandstorm” and cheering on the Gamecocks in 2018.

– Rixon

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