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South Carolina Football: Ranking each game on the Entertainment Scale

By George Bagwell

South Carolina Football helmet. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina Football helmet. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports /
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UTEP’s Mike Franklin tries to evade the tackle of Jacksonville State’s Jeremiah Harris during college football action at Burgess-Snow Field Jacksonville State Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama August 26, 2023. (Dave Hyatt: The Gadsden Times)
UTEP’s Mike Franklin tries to evade the tackle of Jacksonville State’s Jeremiah Harris during college football action at Burgess-Snow Field Jacksonville State Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama August 26, 2023. (Dave Hyatt: The Gadsden Times) /

South Carolina Football’s No. 11 Most Entertaining Game of 2023:
Jacksonville State Gamecocks

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are entering their first season as a FBS school, which means there are now two “Gamecock” schools in the highest ranks of college football. The two fighting chicken teams will meet November 4 at Williams-Brice. Most fans will recognize the head coach of the Alabama variant of the Gamecocks, Rich Rodriguez. The former West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona coach is in his second season with Jacksonville State, and led them to an impressive 9-2 record in their last season in the FCS.

Although ineligible for the playoffs because of the ongoing transition to the big leagues, they beat Stephen F. Austin and Austin Peay in the regular season while both were ranked in the FCS polls. Offensively, they primarily used a strong rushing attack to average over 40 PPG, running for over 250 YPG. Running back Anwar Lewis returns after pacing the Gamecocks with 818 yards on the season. Also returning is starting quarterback Zion Webb, who, despite a 10:9 touchdown-INT ratio through the air, produced 728 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

Similar to Furman, this team is great in the context of a lower division but realistically cannot compete with the South Carolina football team for 4 quarters. Their two losses last season were to Tulsa (5-7) and Southeastern Louisiana (9-4 in FCS) by a combined margin of 85-31. This game slots in at #11 due to the fact that Jacksonville State has a mobile QB, and this could be a source of problems for the Gamecock linebackers, keeping the game closer for longer than the Furman matchup. This still, hopefully at least, will be another game in which LaNorris Sellers gets action without burning his redshirt. (Players are allowed to participate in 4 games while maintaining redshirt eligibility.)

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