South Carolina Football: Ranking each game on the Entertainment Scale

South Carolina Football’s No. 4 Most Entertaining Game of 2023:
Mississippi State Bulldogs

This game might be #3 if Mike Leach was still alive. The death of one of the most beloved coaches in the game seems like it really won’t sink in until the first Saturday of college football hits and Leach isn’t on the sideline. The game of football is always better when people remember that it is just a game, and have goofballs like Leach making the college football world a more enjoyable atmosphere. It’s objectively true that the SEC is a better place with people like Mike Leach coaching young men instead of Hugh Freeze, but there’s really no replacing the Pirate.

Doing his best effort, however, will be Zach Arnett, the first Latino head coach in SEC history. While Leach’s offense was the main show in Starkville, Arnett’s defense was the glue that kept the team going. In three years as defensive coordinator, 5 Bulldogs got drafted on the defensive side of the ball. Arnett knows what he’s doing, and he’s not just some assistant the Bulldogs named head coach after Leach’s death. Leach trusted this man, and if you have the Pirate’s trust, you’re probably a decent coach.

Arnett’s defense does have to fill some holes, but the offense should remain potent, even if it’s Kevin Barbay’s offense instead of the Air Raid. Will Rogers is back to set every Mississippi State program record, it seems. Jo’Quavious Marks returns to the run game, and he should get more of a typical running back role as opposed to a backfield receiving complement. In the receiving corps, Rufus Harvey will excel even without the pass-heavy offense Leach installed.

Star cover man Emmanuel Forbes is gone, as is Jalen Green, 2nd on the team behind Forbes in passes defended. Only 2 players with an interception from last season return to the team, and 12 of 14 interceptions from last year were from players no longer on the roster. Leading linebackers Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson did stay to anchor the defensive front, so Spencer Rattler may need to be throwing often and early to get the Gamecocks on board. It should be a very exciting game at Williams-Brice, and it’s the first home game of the conference slate.

Will Rogers vs. Spencer Rattler is one of the more underrated QB matchups in the SEC this season, and watching them go possession for possession will be a treat for all in attendance. The two teams haven’t met since 2016, when Dan Mullen led Mississippi State to a 27-14 win in Will Muschamp’s first season. Fun fact, the last three meetings between these schools going back to 2011 have only featured head coaches that coached Florida at some point in their careers. (Steve Spurrier, Will Muschamp, Dan Mullen.) This year’s matchup should be a close game, and perhaps the first overtime game in Williams-Brice since 2014, when the Head Ball Coach was still roaming the sidelines for South Carolina football.