South-Carolina
SEC This Week: First-place South Carolina looks to validate start against No. 16 LSU
Things to watch this week in the Southeastern Conference:
Game of the week
No. 16 LSU (1-1) at South Carolina (2-0, 1-0), noon, Saturday, (ABC). The Gamecocks pulled away in the second half to win at Kentucky in the only league game played this past week. There are only three SEC league games this week so South Carolina has a chance to maintain its hold on first place. It won’t be easy against LSU and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who beat Nicholls State, 44-21, last week. The Gamecocks hope to continue the strong play of two first-time starters in quarterback LaNorris Sellers and defensive end Dylan Stewart. Sellers threw two TDs in the 31-6 win over the Wildcats. LSU has won the past seven meetings, but are just 7-point favorites, according to BetMGM.
Power 4 showdowns
It is another light SEC schedule with only two other league games: Texas A&M at Florida and No. 1 Georgia at Kentucky.
No. 24 Boston College (2-0) plays at No. 6 Missouri (2-0). The Eagles opened with two wins under first-year coach Bill O’Brien and made the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2018. Boston College should have one of its biggest challenges of the year against Mizzou, which has not given up a point in shutout victories over Murray State (51-0) and Buffalo (38-0). It is the first time since 1935 the Tigers held consecutive opponents to zero points.
No. 4 Alabama (2-0) goes to Wisconsin (2-0) for the first time since 1928. Quarterback Jalen Milroe has led the Crimson Tide with 394 yards passing and five touchdowns in wins over Western Kentucky and USF. Wisconsin allowed both Western Michigan and South Dakota to stay within two touchdowns in two home wins.
Impact player
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart set an SEC record by completing his first 24 passes in a wipeout of Middle Tennessee last week. Dart surpassed the league mark of 23 in a row set by Tennessee’s Tee Martin at South Carolina in 1998. The Rebels’ previous best was 19 in a row by Matt Corral against Vanderbilt in 2020. Dart and the Rebels play at Wake Forest this week.
Inside the numbers
There are three SEC teams among the top five in FBS total offense through two weeks. Ole Miss leads with way with 713 yards a game. Arkansas is No. 2 nationally at 667 yards per game. Tennessee ranks fifth with 589 yards. … South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori had seven tackles and a game-breaking pick six as the Gamecocks opened SEC play with a road win for first time since 2017. … Oklahoma defensive lineman Gracen Halton had a sack and a five-yard stop for safety as the Sooners held on to best Houston 16-12. The safety was Oklahoma’s only scoring play of the second half. … Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 246 yards and three TDs in a 31-12 win at defending champion Michigan.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer celebrates a fumble recovery with defensive tackle DeAndre Jules (99) during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Old Dominion, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Credit: AP/Artie Walker Jr.
Surprise starts
Nine of the 16 SEC teams opened 2-0 this season and most of them are the highly ranked teams like Georgia, Alabama and Texas. But the group also includes South Carolina and Vanderbilt, who were expected to finish 13th and 16th, respectively, in preseason predictions. The Gamecocks started with two wins for the first time since 2021 and only the third time in the past 11 seasons. It’s the third straight season the Commodores have started with two victories. However, the team finished 5-7 in 2022 and 2-10 a year ago.
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South-Carolina
Former South Carolina Gamecock Writes Her Name in the WNBA History Books
![Former South Carolina Gamecock Writes Her Name in the WNBA History Books Former South Carolina Gamecock Writes Her Name in the WNBA History Books](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3400,h_1912,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/gamecock_digest/01j7hrxzzsd5h7shwmsp.jpg)
Former South Carolina star and current Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson needed just 12-points to set the WNBA’s all-time single season scoring record. And with just 26.1 seconds left in the first half, Wilson stands alone in the history books.
With just five games left on the year, the Aces traveled to Indiana to take on a hot Fever team before the playoffs ramp up. Wilson, in search of her third MVP award, may have just secured on a big time stage.
Fans of Wilson’s game know this isn’t a surprisng feat from one of the game’s very best. Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi set the record with 860 points back in 2006 before the record was bested by Wilson (912), New York’s Breanna Stewart (919), and Seattle’s Jewel Lloyd (939) in 2023. Now Wilson, breaking the record again surpassing Lloyd’s 939 points, stands alone.
After tonight’s game against Indiana, Las Vegas has four games left on the year which would allow Wilson to further separate herself from the pack. In pursuit of a third straight championship, Wilson is now the “heavy favorite” to pick up her third league MVP award.
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Ex-South Carolina, Jets RB Kevin Long dies at 69
![Ex-South Carolina, Jets RB Kevin Long dies at 69 Ex-South Carolina, Jets RB Kevin Long dies at 69](https://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2024%2F0911%2Fr1385221_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kevin Long, who played running back at South Carolina before getting drafted by the New York Jets, has died at age 69.
The university said Long died Tuesday. Curtis Frye, the former track coach at South Carolina who was a close friend of Long, spoke with Long’s wife and informed the university of his death. A cause of death was not provided.
Long, who was from Clinton, South Carolina, played with the Gamecocks from 1973-76 and became the first running back in program history to surpass 1,000 yards in a season with 1,133 in 1975.
Long is 10th on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,372 yards. He is a member of the university’s athletic Hall of Fame along with the state of South Carolina’s Hall of Fame.
Long was taken by the Jets in the seventh round of the 1977 NFL draft. He played there five seasons, rushing for 2,190 yards and 25 touchdowns. He caught 74 passes for 539 yards and three TDs.
He finished his career in the USFL.
South-Carolina
South Carolina’s Shane Beamer Says the Bandwagon is Getting Full
![South Carolina’s Shane Beamer Says the Bandwagon is Getting Full South Carolina’s Shane Beamer Says the Bandwagon is Getting Full](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5009,h_2817,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/gamecock_digest/01j7gvf52dvrd61rqgxj.jpg)
South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer says the bandwagon is getting full.
The South Carolina Gamecocks are off to a hot start this season with a 2-0 record. The first win came against Old Dominion in which South Carolina squeaked out a win and then they followed that performance up with a dominant game against the Kentucky Wildcats on the road. Now they are faced with a home game against LSU, and head coach Shane Beamer says his team still has some things to learn.
There is a lot of national attention on the Gamecocks this week. College Gameday is coming to town for the first time in over a decade and college football fans are interested to see how they fare against a currently ranked top-25 team. South Carolina has made some waves this season, and Beamer says his team has to learn how to deal with success.
“We talked this morning, one of the keys for Saturday is we have to learn how to deal with success the right way,” Beamer said. “And handle some of the, I don’t want to say distractions, but there is a lot going on this week that we didn’t have to deal with last week. Or that we didn’t get to deal with last week. I think it’s a positive, I think we need to get used to it. but one we need to make sure we are handling distractions the right way and we also have to handle success the right way. And we have to realize right now that the bandwagon is getting full.”
A win on Saturday would certainly provide a lot of momentum to the South Carolina program and would likely pole vault them into the top 25 rankings. Beamer talked about during the offseason how he felt there were a lot of people underestimating his team this year, and he has proven that to be true through two weeks at least.
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