Everything you need to know before South Carolina football takes on the LSU Tigers

It has been a tale of two weeks so far this season for the South Carolina football team. In week 1, the Gamecocks nearly lost to Old Dominion at home and needed two strip sacks inside the 10-yard line to pull off the victory. Then, in week 2, USC smacked the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington 31-6.

This Saturday, the Gamecocks will host the LSU Tigers in the College GameDay game of the week. This will be the first time since 2008 (the Stephen-Garcia-got-tackled-by-a-ref game) because the scheduled game in 2015 was moved to Baton Rouge because of flooding in Columbia. Carolina has not beaten the Tigers since 1994, long before any players involved in this game were born.

South Carolina Football vs. LSU
How to Watch

Saturday's game is sold out, and Williams-Brice Stadium will be rocking for the matchup with the Bayou Bengals.

College GameDay's coverage from Gamecock Park will begin at 9:00 AM ET and will be available on ESPN, ESPNU, and the ESPN app. The game will begin at 12:12 PM ET and will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

For DirecTV customers who still cannot watch any Disney-owned channels (including ABC and the ESPN family of networks), here is a helpful guide for how you can still watch the game. The guide was made for the Kentucky game but still applies to Saturday's matchup with LSU.

South Carolina Football vs. LSU
Storylines to Watch

The biggest storyline for this game is the direction of each team's 2024 trajectory. LSU lost in week 1 to Southern Cal and then struggled a bit with Nicholls State before pulling away late. South Carolina didn't play well against Old Dominion before dominating Kentucky. A win for either squad could have that team thinking about making a run toward SEC contention, while the losing team could be in danger of a downhill slide with a difficult schedule remaining.

The College GameDay environment should provide the Gamecocks with a boost. Williams-Brice Stadium is sold out, a huge crop of recruits will be visiting, and the hype of being the top game on the docket can do nothing but help Carolina.

Weather could be a factor on Saturday. Hurricane Francine is hitting the Gulf Coast right now and could make its way to the East Coast this weekend. If the storm's outer bands do hit the Carolinas, rain should be the biggest obstacle for the football game as storms and wind should be much less likely.

On the field, the top positional matchup will be the Gamecock defensive front against the Tiger offensive line. LSU tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones are two of the very best linemen in the sport and are future NFL 1st rounders, while Carolina EDGE players Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard have been some of the top defensive player in the country through the beginning of this season. The LSU guards are really good players, as well, and the matchup with the USC tackle rotation (Tonka Hemingway, TJ Sanders, DeAndre Jules, and Boogie Huntley) will be critical.

Specifically speaking on the USC EDGE vs. LSU tackles matchup, the Gamecocks are among the nation's leaders in sack rate and total sacks, and Stewart and Kennard have combined for 5 strip sacks through two games. The Gamecocks haven't blitzed much but have seen success doing so. The LSU tackles have not allowed a sack this season, and Will Campbell has given up just 3 sacks in about 1800 career snaps.

Neither South Carolina nor LSU have had much success running the football this season. LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been very good, and after a tough week 1, Gamecock QB LaNorris Sellers showed improvement last Saturday. Whichever offense can find ways to move the football will give themselves a huge step up in this one.

South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains did not have a good day against Old Dominion but was solid against Kentucky. A win against LSU, though, likely is only realistic if Loggains has his best play-calling performance of the young season.

Injuries could play a big role in this game, especially on the LSU side of things. Starting running back John Emery, starting defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory, and rotational linebacker West Weeks are out for Saturday, and starting corner Zy Alexander, starting safety Jordan Allen, and starting wide receivers Kyle Parker and Chris Hilton could be limited. Starting guard Garrett Dellinger is expected to return from a concussion suffered in week 1, as well. The Gamecocks are pretty healthy as no 2024 starters appear to be in danger of missing the game, though, rotational offensive lineman Trovon Baugh and rotational wide receiver Gage Larvadain are questionable, and two-deep cornerback Emory Floyd is probable.

LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker has been tasked with fixing the abysmal 2023 unit, and though this is his first year with the Tigers, he has familiarity with the Gamecocks. Baker was the defensive coordinator at Missouri the last two seasons. He also was the DC at Louisiana Tech back in 2017 when the Bulldogs came to Columbia. In his three games against Carolina, Baker's defenses have held the Gamecocks to 10 points, 12 points, and 17 points while limiting the team to under 250 total rushing yards and less than 700 total passing yards and sacking the Gamecocks 11 times. Missouri won in both 2022 and 2023, and without a Jake Bentley to Bryan Edwards Hail Mary and Parker White game-winning field goal, USC would have lost to Louisiana Tech, too.

Baker could be moving Harold Perkins to a new spot. Perkins has bounced around between EDGE and linebacker during his career, but according to word out of Baton Rouge, he could play the "star" position this weekend. In LSU's defense, the star is a hybrid EDGE/linebacker/strong safety who does a little bit of everything for the Tigers. At that position, Perkins' athleticism would be on full display and would give linebacker Whit Weeks a clearer role at weakside 'backer.

South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White has utilized a 3-man front and a 4-man front this year (with the 4-man look being the primary defense so far). This week, LSU coach Brian Kelly declared that if the Gamecocks run a "3-down front with Cover 2" (something the Gamecocks do use at times), then the Tigers would emphasize running the football.

The Gamecocks will honor 1969 ACC Championship-winning quarterback (and long-time radio color analyst) Tommy Moody during a pregame ceremony and the 2024 South Carolina basketball National Championship-winning squad during halftime.

South Carolina Football vs. LSU
What the Experts Are Saying

The betting lines opened this week with the Gamecocks being just over a touchdown underdog to LSU. Since then, most lines have dipped to just below a touchdown advantage for the visiting Tigers. Most over/under point totals opened between 52 and 54 points, but those numbers have dipped below 50 total points in recent days.

ESPN's FPI has the game as a virtual toss-up, giving South Carolina a 48.7% chance of victory, though, the outlet does consider Shane Beamer's team to be a 7-point underdog. The ESPN over/under point total is currently slated at 48.5 total points.

College Football Network's Colin Lynch picked LSU to win and cover the spread.

The Greenville News' Lulu Kesin is picking South Carolina to earn the upset win 20-17.

The college football team at Fox Sports has picked LSU to win the game but Carolina to cover the spread.

South Carolina Football vs. LSU
Official Garnet and Cocky Prediction

While last week's game against Kentucky was one of the most important games of the Shane Beamer era, this Saturday's contest is one of the biggest opportunities for the Gamecocks during Beamer's tenure. A win over LSU would help shift the perception of the South Carolina football program, and with a huge group of recruiting visitors on campus, it also could have tangible results on the future.

The narrative around the Gamecocks is that big wins are often followed by big letdowns. While there have been cases in which that has happened in South Carolina history (the 2010 Gamecocks beat #1 Alabama and then lost to unranked Kentucky), it is not a foregone conclusion that USC can't win two big games in a row. To end the 2022 season, the Gamecocks knocked Tennessee and Clemson out of the College Football Playoff Field in back-to-back weeks.

This particular big game will come down to one key question: "Can offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and quarterback LaNorris Sellers lead an offense that can score points?" To win, the Gamecocks must score. As good as the USC defense has been so far this season, LSU will get on the scoreboard more than Kentucky did as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and wide receiver Kyren Lacy are too good to be held back completely.

The titanic, NFL-like, matchup between the Gamecock pass rush and the Tiger offensive line in pass protection will be a big factor, too. If Carolina can pressure the quarterback and potentially force turnovers with their pass rush, they can limit LSU's offense. However, if Nussmeier has time to let his receivers get open, the Tigers will score a lot.

Fans should expect the garnet and black-clad offense to continue to show progression this week. LSU's defense was awful in 2023, and while they are improved this fall and have a much better defensive coordinator, there still are some injury and depth concerns for the Tigers that should allow the Gamecocks some scoring opportunities. Against a thin defensive front for Brain Kelly's team, LaNorris Sellers and Rocket Sanders should be able to run the ball, opening up pass-catching opportunities for players like Jared Brown, Mazeo Bennett, and the stable of Carolina tight ends.

The salty USC defense will do just enough in this game to hold LSU to field goals and force a turnover or two. Under Shane Beamer, in games in which Carolina has forced a turnover and run for 100 yards on offense, the Gamecocks are 13-3. In a competitive contest, the Gamecocks will move that number to 14-3 this Saturday.