South Carolina football: most important game on 2021 schedule

What is the most important game on South Carolina football’s slate?

The Gamecocks’ 2021 season opener will be here before we know it, with a meeting set for September 4th against Eastern Illinois. That contest will be the first of the Shane Beamer era, and fans will be eager to see the team in action under the bright lights of Williams-Brice Stadium. While that home opener will certainly be a highly anticipated matchup, there is a much more important game on the schedule that will impact the trajectory of South Carolina’s season.

Is it a road trip to Athens to take on a highly ranked Georgia team in week three? What about a midseason matchup with Tennessee? Auburn and Florida come to Columbia in November. Will South Carolina be fighting for bowl eligibility when that final month comes around? Then, there’s always the season-ending rivalry versus Clemson, which will be coach Beamer’s first involvement in the rivalry in over a decade.

Each of those contests will be important in their own right, but there’s one SEC matchup that we’re circling as having the biggest impact on South Carolina’s success.

Kentucky.

Why do the Wildcats hold the honor of most important game? There are a few reasons.

First, the series with Kentucky has taken a turn over the last seven seasons. Since 2014, the Gamecocks have beaten Mark Stoops’ bunch just once, as his program has surpassed South Carolina in the SEC Eastern division. While the Wildcats have seen a run of recent success, they could be working out some early-season kinks on offense. Kentucky will have a new signal caller under center, and a new offensive coordinator relaying plays.

This is a game that Gamecock fans always think they should win. Prior to Kentucky shifting the series, the Gamecocks had taken down the Wildcats in 13 of 14 meetings. They’ll hope to get back to that in 2021, as they look to regain that dominance over their SEC rival.

Secondly, the game falls in a crucial part of the schedule. South Carolina will be looking to jump out to a 2-0 start in the non-conference before travelling to Athens in week three. The Gamecocks will be heavy underdogs in that meeting, and will likely suffer their first setback to the Bulldogs. What the team can’t do is let that loss beat them twice.

Even with a loss to Georgia, Williams-Brice will be jumping for the SEC home opener. Should the Gamecocks pull out a big win in what will be a great environment, it’ll give the team a boost of confidence heading into matchups with Troy, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt the following weeks. With a win over the Wildcats, a 6-1 start to the year isn’t unfathomable. Winning this game could also be the difference between bowl eligibility and staying home for the holidays.

A crushing defeat, though, would see the Gamecocks fall to the cellar of the SEC Eastern standings and limp into that upcoming matchup with the Vols. As we saw last season in the LSU game, one loss can cause a season to spiral out of control. This young team will need to see some sort of success under its new coaching staff, and dropping what many will consider a toss-up game could alter the path of the season.