South Carolina football opens its season this Saturday in Charlotte against the North Carolina Tar Heels. The College GameDay-attended spectacle will be the fourth time in nine years that the two teams have met to open a season (2013, 2015, 2019, 2023) and the fourth time since 2015 that the two teams have played at Bank of America Stadium (2015, 2019, 2021, 2023).
Because the game is the first contest of the year for both teams, and because of some injury and eligibility-related intrigue into the two team’s available rosters, fans are particularly interested in which players will be in the starting lineups for the Battle of the Carolinas.
On Monday, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer did his part to keep fans informed by releasing his team’s opening game depth chart.
The depth chart comes with a few surprises, while other position battles went as expected through fall camp.
***It is worth noting that there is nothing binding about this depth chart, even though it is an official listing from the South Carolina football program.
***It is also worth noting that the players listed on the depth chart could miss the game due to injury, as well, so seeing a player listed who has been battling injury is not necessarily an endorsement of their health and availability for Saturday.
***Starters are listed first, and direct backups are listed in parentheses.
***An “OR” simply means the position is not 100% decided; an “AND” is used for kickoff returner as there are two deep men on kickoffs
***Twelve positions are listed on offense. The personnel groupings change pending the offensive formation.
The entire depth chart is listed below:
OFFENSE
Quarterback: Spencer Rattler (Luke Doty)
Running Back: Dakereon Joyner (Juju McDowell)
Wide Receiver: Antwane “Juice” Wells (Nyck Harbor)
Wide Receiver: Ahmarean Brown (Eddie Lewis)
Wide Receiver: Xavier Legette (O’Mega Blake)
Tight End: Trey Knox (Nick Elksnis)
Tight End: Joshua Simon (Nick Elksnis)
Tackle: Sidney Fugar OR Jaxon Hughes
Tackle: Cason Henry OR Tyshawn Wannamaker
Guard: Jakai Moore (Trai Jones)
Guard: Nick Gargiulo (Markee Anderson)
Center: Vershon Lee (Grayson Mains)
DEFENSE
Tackle: Tonka Hemingway (TJ Sanders)
Tackle: Alex Huntley (Nick Barrett)
End: Tyreek Johnson OR Jatius Geer OR Terrell Dawkins
EDGE/Outside Linebacker: Jordan Strachan OR Bryan Thomas, Jr. OR Desmond Umeozulu
Mike Linebacker: Stone Blanton (Grayson “Pup” Howard)
Will Linebacker: Debo Williams (Mo Kaba)
Nickel: Keenan Nelson, Jr. (David Spaulding)
Cornerback: Marcellas Dial (Emory Floyd)
Cornerback: O’Donnell Fortune (Judge Collier)
Strong Safety: Nick Emmanwori (King-Demenian Ford)
Free Safety: DQ Smith (Jalon Kilgore)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Placekicker: Mitch Jeter (Alex Herrera)
Punter: Kai Kroeger (Alex Herrera)
Long Snapper: Hunter Rogers (Cole Rasmussen)
Holder: Kai Kroeger (William Joyce)
Kickoff Returner: Xavier Legette AND Dakereon Joyner OR Juju McDowell
Punt Returner: Ahmarean Brown (Eddie Lewis)