South Carolina Gamecocks Football: Phil Steele 2025 Forecast

South Carolina is hungry to build on its momentum after finishing last season with a 9-4 overall record. Ahead of the season, college football expert Phil Steele analyzed the Gamecocks and revealed his expectations for their 2025 campaign, starting with the team’s offense.

Offense

“Last year my computer called for them to double their rush yards from 85 ypg [yards per game] to 176 with 220 ypg pass and they had 184 ypg rush and 223 ypg pass! My computer called for 30.7 ppg and they had 30.5 ppg!” Steele wrote. “This year QB [LaNorris] Sellers is back and they are deeper than last year.”

South Carolina is returning five starters on offense this season. Most notably, quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ is returning after a breakout 2024 campaign.

Sellers completed 65.6% of his pass attempts for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, compared to seven interceptions. Sellers also notched 674 yards and seven touchdowns in the ground game.

While Sellers will be the key to South Carolina’s offensive success this fall, he is far from the only important piece for the Gamecocks. The team is also returning wideout Nyck Harbor, who was South Carolina second-leading receiver last season and boasts jaw-dropping athleticism.

Defense

If Sellers and Harbor can build on their chemistry from last season, the Gamecocks’ offense will be difficult to stop in the 2025 campaign. Alas, Phil Steele isn’t nearly as optimistic about South Carolina’s defense.

“Last year they had 8 starters back and added some pass rushers and kept the momentum going allowing just 317 ypg and 18 ppg [points per game] with 41 sacks with a dominant front seven,” Steele wrote. “A good portion of that front 7 in now in the NFL… They will take a step back this year.”

South Carolina is only returning four defensive starters from last season. In fairness, one of those starters is EDGE Dylan Stewart, who was an All-SEC freshman last season and one of the best pass rushers in the country.

Stewart finished his debut campaign with 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. Evidently, experts only expect Stewart to increase his production this fall. SEC media named Stewart a preseason All-SEC First-Team selection this summer.

2025 Forecast

Unfortunately for South Carolina, a single player can’t entirely shutdown opposing offenses. Steele ultimately believes the Gamecocks will struggle to reach the heights they achieved last season.

“This year they lost a lot of their stars with 5 NFL draft picks and 9 others signing UFA contracts,” Steele wrote. “The defense will not be as dominant and the special teams loses all the key players. They will be favored to open 4-1 or 5-0 but I think it will be tough to match last year’s nine win total.”

On Aug. 31, South Carolina will kick off its 2025 campaign with a showdown against Virginia Tech at 3 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN.