"Outstanding," "Very active;" Everything LSU's Brian Kelly said about Shane Beamer's South Carolina football team

South Carolina football fans are feeling much better about their team after a big win on the road against the Kentucky Wildcats last weekend. Next up on the schedule, though, is a College GameDay matchup against the LSU Tigers.

Ahead of this Saturday's big game, LSU head coach Brian Kelly already has spoken about Shane Beamer's Gamecocks, and the long-time coach sounds pretty impressed with Carolina, too.

During a Monday press conference, Kelly was extremely complimentary of his next opponent as he gave the media in Baton Rouge his preview of the Gamecocks.

Kelly began talking about Beamer's team by referring to them as "a very good South Carolina team" and said he and his team expect the atmosphere in Williams-Brice Stadium to be "great."

When speaking about the USC offense, the Tigers' headman compared quarterback LaNorris Sellers to former Florida QB Anthony Richardson and former Arkansas signal-caller KJ Jefferson, citing his size, athleticism, and strong arm. He also mentioned Rocket Sanders (a former teammate of Jefferson's at Arkansas) as a good compliment to Sellers in the run game.

LSU has a good offensive line and two NFL tackles in juniors Will Campbell and Emery Jones. Even so, Coach Kelly says the Tigers have to be concerned about the Gamecocks' pass rush: "They lead the SEC in sacks...freshman EDGE player [Dylan] Stewart and [Kyle] Kennard are outstanding players...they run both 3-down and 4-down [on the defensive line]."

As good as the line has been for the Bayou Bengals in pass protection (they've allowed 0 sacks through two games), running the ball hasn't been quite as successful this year. Making matters more difficult, starting running back John Emery recently tore his ACL. Even so, Kelly said the Tigers are going to try to run the ball, but only if the Gamecocks give them the opportunity: "If South Carolina comes out in 3-down and plays cover-2, I guarantee you we're running the football...but when they're loaded in there...what sense does it make, really?"

Kelly understands that if the front-7 from Carolina can generate pressure in the passing game and hold their own against the run, the secondary has enough talent to make some plays on Saturday: "I really love Emmanwori, the defensive back...just a really good defense."

Dylan Stewart and LaNorris Sellers continued to receive praise from Kelly throughout the rest of the press conference, but the LSU head coach hopes his team can do what it needs to do in order to take advantage of the two young players' inexperience on Saturday: "Sellers is a physical presence...big, physical, strong, has got a cannon for an arm...but he's a new starter...[against Stewart] we're going to do a really good job, we're going to have to be disciplined, get the ball out on time."

Some South Carolina football fans have been a little dissatisfied with the Gamecocks' usage of certain wide receivers, but Brian Kelly and his staff know there are more pass-catchers on the roster than the ones who have been featured so far (primarily, receivers Jared Brown, Mazeo Bennett, and Vandrevius Jacobs and tight ends Josh Simon and Michael Smith): "[Dalevon] Campbell, [Nyck] Harbor—Harbor is a freak of an athlete—they have some weapons [for LaNorris Sellers to throw to downfield]."

Kelly also told the media that his team will be preparing for a raucous, sold-out environment at Williams-Brice Stadium by practicing with artificial crowd noise this week.

South Carolina and LSU will kick off at Noon ET on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. The College GameDay pregame show will start at 9:00 AM ET and will be available on ESPN, ESPNU, and the ESPN app.