South Carolina football: Gamecocks add Old Dominion to the 2024 schedule
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina football program added a new opponent to its home schedule in 2024.
The South Carolina athletic department announced today that it has added Old Dominion University to its 2024 home football schedule. Brett McMurphy reported the future matchup Friday afternoon.
The contest will serve as the 2024 season opener, with a date set for August 31, in Williams-Brice Stadium. It will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.
The Monarchs will reportedly receive a $1.5 million payout for the matchup, the largest that university’s ever gotten. The previous high came in a 2018 game between Old Dominion and Liberty.
The school restarted its football program in 2007, competing at the FCS level for seven seasons before making the jump to the FBS in 2014. Since then, the Monarchs have gone 31-42 as a Conference USA member, making a bowl appearance in 2016 where they defeated Eastern Michigan 24-20 in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.
ODU made national headlines in 2018 by knocking off a 13th ranked Virginia Tech squad by a score of 49-35. The Monarchs are now entering their first season under new head coach Ricky Rahne, who comes to Norfolk after a stint as offensive coordinator at Penn State.
Old Dominion finished last year with a 1-11 mark, leading to the resignation of longtime leader Bobby Wilder, who’d been with the program since its restart.
With the Monarchs in the boat, South Carolina’s 2024 out-of-conference slate is nearly complete, as they plan to play Akron and in-state rival Clemson, in addition to ODU. They’ll also face the typical SEC East foes, while taking on Texas A&M and Alabama from the West.