Everything you need to know for South Carolina football's matchup with Old Dominion

The 2024 South Carolina football season begins this Saturday with a home game against the Old Dominion Monarchs. Expectations for the Gamecocks are all over the place this preseason, but fans of the garnet and black are hoping to see some signs this weekend that their favorite team will have a season that leans toward the positive end of those expectations.

Old Dominion is a smaller school that plays in Conference USA, but they made a bowl game last year (something Carolina did not), and they have their eyes set on springing the upset in week 1. The two teams have never played.

South Carolina Football vs. Old Dominion
How to Watch

Though it is a game against a smaller opponent, Williams-Brice Stadium will be sold out as Shane Beamer's team takes the field for the first time this season.

The Gamecocks and Monarchs are set to kick off at 4:15 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and will be streamable on the ESPN app.

South Carolina Football vs. Old Dominion
Storylines to Watch

For Gamecock fans, the ODU matchup is the start of the LaNorris Sellers era at quarterback. The highly touted redshirt freshman was named the starter after spring ball and never relinquished his hold on the crown as he was named the week 1 starter during fall camp.

The Carolina Faithful also will have to be paying close attention to the team's personnel as USC will be playing a large number of new faces on Saturday.

On offense, transfer portal additions Rocket Sanders (running back, Arkansas Razorbacks), Kamaar Bell (offensive lineman, Florida Atlantic Owls), Torricelli Simpkins (offensive lineman, North Carolina Central Eagles), and Brady Hunt (tight end, Ball State Cardinals) all will play a lot for the offense, and four transfer receivers (Vandrevius Jacobs, Florida State Seminoles; Gage Larvadain, Miami (OH) RedHawks; Jared Brown, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers; Dalevon Campbell, Nevada Wolfpack) are battling for spots in the two-deep. True freshman left tackle Josiah Thompson is expected to start, and true freshman wide receiver Mazeo Bennett may, as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, transfers Demetrius Knight (Charlotte 49ers) and Bangally Kamara (Pittsburgh Panthers) will play prominent roles at linebacker, Kyle Kennard (EDGE, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets) should start, and DeAndre Jules (defensive tackle, Pittsburgh Panthers), Monkell Goodwine (defensive tackle, Alabama Crimson Tide), and Gerald Kilgore (defensive back, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles) should play, too. Freshman Dylan Stewart might start at EDGE.

The Gamecocks' coaching staff looks very different from last season, too. Joe DeCamillis is the team's new special teams coordinator, Mike Furrey has taken over the wide receivers coach position, Marquel Blackwell is the running backs coach, and Shawn Elliott returns to the South Carolina program as the man leading the tight ends and as the team's run game coordinator.

Carolina's offense is expected to look different this season. With a more mobile quarterback and the return of Shawn Elliott, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains is expected to employ a heavier rushing attack this fall, one that includes more quarterback run and zone-blocking than last year.

The defense has repped both the 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 this offseason. Last season's results in the 3-3-5 were much better, but it remains to be seen how defensive coordinator Clayton White will deploy his unit this fall. During practice this fall, the Gamecocks have been in more 4-man fronts but still have been using the 3-3-5, as well.

Old Dominion has a preseason All-American linebacker named Jason Henderson who could challenge the all-time record for college tackles. However, Henderson is at the center of a potential stats scandal. Theories have arisen that Henderson has received some favorable rulings from official scorers as he has more than double the total number of assisted tackles in his career than he has solo stops. Regardless, he is a really good player who should be all over the field on Saturday.

South Carolina Football vs. Old Dominion
What Experts Are Saying

Shane Beamer's team enters the season opener as a heavy favorite as most betting outlets have the Gamecocks listed as a favorite by 20-22 points.

ESPN's FPI (Football Powel Index) predicts the Gamecocks would win 87.2% of the matchups between these two teams.

With Old Dominion being a school from a smaller conference, the vast majority of other outlets are also picking the Gamecocks to win and win comfortably.

South Carolina Football vs. Old Dominion
Official Garnet and Cocky Prediction

South Carolina is 20-4 since the year 2000 in season openers. The four years in which they lost the first game (2014, 2019, 2020, and 2023) all were years that fell short of expectations.

With that said, the 2024 opener will serve as an important part of a two-week test for the Gamecocks. USC must perform well against Old Dominion (and win) and use the positive momentum to fuel a good showing in Lexington, Kentucky next weekend against the Wildcats.

Fans should expect offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains to give LaNorris Sellers a lot of safe throws early in the game as he looks to build his new starting quarterback's confidence. After a while, though, shots downfield could become part of the game plan as the Gamecock offensive coaching staff would love to have that threat in the back of Kentucky's mind next weekend.

Running back Rocket Sanders and other indespensable offensive players will play, but if USC gets ahead, their workloads could be small.

The Gamecock defense should be too much for the Old Dominion offense to overcome. Grant Wilson is talented at the quarterback position and is a gifted athlete, but bucking the long-held trend in Gamecock Nation, South Carolina's defense actually did a nice job against the dual-threat QBs from smaller schools on last year's schedule. USC's athletic linebacker group and run-stopping safeties should make life difficult for Wilson.

The Monarchs lost their two leading rushers from 2023 to the transfer portal, but former Rutgers running back Aaron Young will bring the ODU running back room some speed and veteran smarts. If the Gamecocks can contain Young and Wilson on the ground, it should be a comfortable night in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Former Gamecock Colin Henrich is on the Old Dominion roster.

When all is said and done, a solid performance from Shane Beamer's team will leave this game out of reach early in the 2nd half, and lots of younger/depth players will finish it. The betting over/under is set in the low 50s, but the over should hit as the Gamecocks look to begin year 4 of the Shane Beamer era with a convincing win.