The South Carolina Gamecocks are 2-0, following dominant wins over Kent State and Towson to open the 2026 season. South Carolina led Towson 24-3 early in the third quarter before a nearly hour-long weather delay put both teams off the field.
Returning to a wet field but still enthusiastic crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium, the Gamecocks sealed a 45-9 victory. South Carolina has now successfully opened the season with two convincing wins at home.
Although the game's final score might suggest otherwise, it is a bit deceiving, as the Gamecocks had several mistakes early against Towson. And they are ones that they can't afford to make as a talented Mississippi State team comes to town for Week 3.
South Carolina can't afford costly mistakes against the Bulldogs
The Gamecocks' first half was somewhat of a disaster. South Carolina's opening offensive possession started with a false start penalty on Darius Gray, and another false start penalty on Matt Fuller just four plays later. After a big 30-yard run from quarterback LaNorris Sellers, Fuller fumbled on a rushing attempt to give Towson the ball back on their own 36.
If it wasn't for a Vicari Swain electric 58-yard punt return to the house, the Gamecocks likely would have been left off the board entirely on offense.
South Carolina's next two possessions resulted in a three-and-out, and a missed 45-yard field goal by Max Kelley, on a drive that featured three Sellers incompletions.
Kelley bounced back with a 35-yard field to open the second quarter, and the Gamecocks were able to make it a 17-0 lead with a 55-yard rushing touchdown from Fuller. Sellers closed the first half with an interception that wasn't his fault, as it went off of Mazeo Bennett's hands and into a Towson defensive back:
LaNorris Sellers-Mazeo Bennett connection continues to look off tonight.
— Jack Veltri (@Jacktveltri) September 13, 2026
I know it’s wet out there, but Sellers’ pass went off Bennett’s hands and into Towson’s for an interception.
Play is under review. pic.twitter.com/zdbEZsgdFH
In the second half, things slightly improved. The Gamecocks didn't commit a single penalty, and South Carolina's offense scored on three of its consecutive possessions. Swain added another punt return for a touchdown to pad South Carolina's lead. Fuller would fumble yet again late in the third, but luckily it was recovered by tight end Brady Hunt. In all, the Gamecocks finished with six penalties.
After the game, head coach Shane Beamer recognized that his team has to get better.
“We certainly need to be better tonight," Beamer said via Gamecock Central. There were some inexcusable drops tonight. Inexcusable. And we got to get it corrected, there’s no question about it. The next nine weeks are SEC football games, and if we make some of the mistakes that we made tonight, we’re going to get our butts kicked. That’s in all three phases, including coaching.
“So, we need to be better, but it certainly starts with playing winning football. That’s what we did not do enough of tonight: too many drops, too many penalties. I mean, feels like more than six. But some pre-snap stuff that we had, too many drops, some missed assignments on offense and defense tonight, tool — that against the teams that we’re going to play the rest of the season, it’ll cost us.”
Sellers also struggled to find his receivers
Coming off of a 270-yard passing performance, the expectations were also high for Sellers in this one. But the quarterback finished with a career-low 96 yards in the air. While some of his receivers had a drop, like Nyck Harbor in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal attempt late in the third quarter. In all, four of his receivers dropped his passes.
After Sellers' interception, he appeared to have a heated exchange towards Bennet. Coach Beamer said there's nothing to worry about.
“What LaNorris said is exactly right. He’s passionate; he’s competitive," Beamer said via GC, adding that Bennet thought he was running a different route. "Both of them are, but they certainly communicated it. At the end of the day, regardless of how he runs the route, I think LaNorris would agree with me, needs to make a better throw, and then let’s connect on that thing. But they talked about it."
He did have 119 yards and a rushing touchdown, but the Gamecocks can't afford to be one dimensional on offense.
South Carolina can't afford to play like it did against Mississippi State
The Gamecocks need to fix these mistakes and fix them quickly, as the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Columbia on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 2-0, with wins over UL Monroe, and an impressive 38-13 road win over Minnesota on Saturday.
So far, MSU has had 14 penalties, compared to South Carolina's nine across its first two games. But a big reason for the Bulldogs' success is quarterback Kamario Taylor. Through two games, he's thrown for 570 yards with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions, including another 145 yards rushing with a score. He's completed 67.9% of his passes, as well.
The good news is that this game is at home for the Gamecocks, which will give South Carolina an edge. But the Bulldogs have proved they can play well on the road, so it should be a tight matchup.
If South Carolina wants to be 3-0 by this time next week, the mistakes can't continue.
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