South Carolina football: Gamecocks accept bid to Gasparilla Bowl
By Jacob Elsey
South Carolina football will face UAB this bowl season.
The 2020 South Carolina football season will end with bowl game after all, as the Gamecocks have accepted a bid to play in the Gasparilla Bowl, where they’ll face off against UAB the day after Christmas. It will be the 24th bowl appearance in program history, and first since 2018, when they fell to Virginia in the Belk Bowl.
New head coach Shane Beamer will not coach the bowl game, though he has stated that he plans to be around the program in some capacity throughout the team’s postseason practices. Instead, the Gamecocks will be led by interim head coach Mike Bobo, his fourth game at the helm this year following the firing of Will Muschamp. South Carolina has gone 0-3 in his previous three matchups, but will look to end the year with a win and some much needed momentum heading into the 2021 campaign.
Bobo has already announced that quarterback Luke Doty will be under center for the Gamecocks, as he looks to build on a productive freshman season. The Myrtle Beach native has thrown for 405 yards and two scores, completing 60.6% of his attempts in his two starts.
Sharing the backfield with Doty will be the SEC’s leading rusher, Kevin Harris. Harris totaled 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns on the year, starting every game for the Gamecocks, and breaking the century mark five times.
Doty likely won’t have the luxury of throwing to his leading receiver, as Shi Smith declared for the NFL Draft following the season’s conclusion. That means that South Carolina will be relying on tight end Nick Muse, the team’s second-leading pass catcher, and a group of inexperienced wideouts.
The defense, too, will be shorthanded, with Ernest Jones, Israel Mukuamu, Jaycee Horn, and RJ Roderick all opting out over the last month.
Scouting UAB
UAB finished the year with a 6-3 record, capping off its 2020 campaign with a Conference USA Championship. The Blazers took down league favorite Marshall on Saturday by a score of 22-13, securing its second conference title in three seasons.
On offense, UAB is led by running back Spencer Brown and a powerful rushing attack. Brown ran for 889 yards in eight games this season, pacing the conference’s third-ranked rushing offense.
The team dealt with injury issues at quarterback, which led to two signal callers splitting time under center. Still, UAB put up more than 28 points a contest.
On defense, the Blazers rank second in the conference in total defense, being particularly good against the pass (173.2 yd/g). As a team, UAB racked up 60 tackles for loss, 21 sacks, and 14 forced turnovers.
Head coach Bill Clark has been with the program for five years, posting a 40-22 overall record. He’s recently been connected to the opening on The Plains, after the Auburn Tigers fired Gus Malzahn, though Clark has said that he’s happy in Birmingham.
Game info
The matchup is set to take place at Raymond James Stadium (Tampa Bay Bucs) on December 26th with a noon kickoff. The game will be televised on ABC.
The Gamecocks have never appeared in the Gasparilla Bowl, but they do have some familiarity with Tampa having played a number of times in the Outback Bowl. The Gamecocks will be just the second SEC program to play in the bowl, with Mississippi State having taken down Miami (OH) in the 2016 edition.
The Gamecocks are 3-0 in their previous three meetings with UAB, with the most recent being a 49-6 win in 2012. The Blazers have opened up the week as five-point favorites.