South Carolina came within one win of its first College Football Playoff appearance last season.
The Gamecocks closed the 2024 regular season strongly, but they wound up 15th in the final CFP poll — a few spots removed from what would have been a historic program accomplishment. South Carolina had one Top 25 finish in the past 10 seasons before the breakthrough.
While USC lost a number of key pieces, it returns quite a few from the team that ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak that featured four conquests of ranked opponents.
The Gamecocks begin their chance at redemption 13th in the AP poll, traveling to take on Virginia Tech in the Aflac Kickoff Game on Sunday in Atlanta.
It’s a special matchup for South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer, who played at Virginia Tech from 1995-99 for his father, Frank, the all-time winningest coach in program history with 238 wins.
The two schools used to play annually, but this will be the first matchup since 1991.
“We’re playing a great opponent in Virginia Tech…” Beamer said. “It’ll be exciting to play against a team that we have a history with.”
The Gamecocks’ offense revolves around quarterback LaNorris Sellers. After a breakout season in which he threw for 2,534 yards, ran for 674 more and was responsible for 25 touchdowns, Sellers enters the 2025 season with top-10 draft buzz and some Heisman hype.
The vibes at USC got even better on Monday with Utah State running back transfer Rahsul Faison (1,845 yards, 13 TDs the last two seasons) deemed eligible this season. Faison received his waiver for an extra year of eligibility, which was initially denied.
USC defensive line coach Travian Robertson will not be on the sidelines for the opener after sustaining a severe leg injury in a head-on collision Aug. 22.
“Truthfully, he’s very, very lucky to be alive…” Beamer said. “He’s eager to get back out here, and will be as soon as possible.”
Virginia Tech enters a 2025 season that seems quite important for head coach Brent Pry’s future.
Entering his fourth season, Pry is trying to push past a plateau and rejoin ACC contenders. The Hokies have finished each of the last two regular seasons 6-6 with a bowl win and a bowl loss for a combined 13-13 record.
Since they had eight straight 10-win seasons from 2004 to 2011 — when Frank Beamer was still in charge — the Hokies have just one 10-win season in the past 13 years and counting.
Pry knows his team will have their hands full with the Gamecocks.
“We certainly have a huge challenge with this South Carolina bunch,” Pry said. “I’ve coached against a bunch of SEC teams in my time, and they appear to be one of the more talented ones.”
If the Hokies were to take a step forward in 2025, it would likely be because of a return to health and form by quarterback Kyron Drones. He played just nine games in 2024 due to a few injuries that also caused him to miss a large chunk of this year’s spring camp.
It sounds like Drones is healthy now and could be back in his 2023 form, when he threw for 2,084 yards and 17 TDs while running for 818 yards and five scores.
