No. 13 South Carolina pulls away in 24-11 season-opening win over Virginia Tech

South Carolina opened its 2025 regular season under the bright lights of Mercedes-Benz Stadium after a long offseason of growing expectations. The only game on Sunday afternoon, the nation watched the Gamecocks take on Virginia Tech in the Aflac Kickoff Game.

South Carolina fans entered with two questions in mind: Would sophomore star LaNorris Sellers live up to the Heisman hype? Would South Carolina rise to their newfound expectations?

The Gamecocks, despite making some mistakes along the way, answered both with an emphatic “Yes” in a 24-11 victory over the Hokies.

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South Carolina’s offense rolled out the gates with a hot start on the opening drive. However, grounded to a halt for the remainder of the opening quarter.

Sellers opened the 2025 regular season the same way he closed 2024’s, taking a 15-yard carry into the endzone on third down. The sophomore quickly showed how important he is to the Gamecock offense, recording 87 of South Carolina’s 96 first-quarter yards.

Outside of Sellers’ opening drive touchdown, the Gamecock run game struggled in the opening quarter. During the first, South Carolina rushed for a total of 39 yards on 11 carries. 28 of those yards were from Sellers.

“We told our guys there’d be some ugly runs early,” Beamer said. “Just keep battling … Oscar had some really good individual efforts where it wasn’t blocked, and he got more than what was there. ‘Sul, a heck of a run throught the day as well.”

After a three-and-out, the Hokies’ offense found life, driving all the way into the red zone. However, linebacker JayR Johnson intercepted the ball in the endzone, returning it to the Gamecock two-yard line.

Johnson’s decision to take it out of the endzone ended poorly for South Carolina, as shortly later, Sellers was sacked for a safety. While his return led to a safety, Johnson was a bright spot in a difficult game for the Gamecocks.

Johnson finished Sunday with a team-high 10 tackles alongside his interception. However, he was closely followed by Dylan Stewart‘s seven tackles, including a pivotal third-quarter sack.

Business picked up on the ground as the second half progressed, upping the total to 96 yards, including 50 from Oscar Adaway III on nine carries.

However, the Gamecocks’ only time finding the endzone in the quarter ended as an incompletion after replay review. The play, a connection from Sellers to Nyck Harbor, was originally ruled as a nine-yard touchdown.

“It was a heck of a catch,” Beamer said. “I hate that they overturned it, but I get it.”

Harbor, alongside many South Carolina fans, still contests that it was a catch.

“I felt like it was a catch, as we all seen. I had both feet touched down, still had the ball in my hands, stepped out of bounds, still had the ball in my hands. Then the DB made a great play, a great lasting effort,” Harbor said. “It is what it is. That’s what happens. I’ve got to keep control of the ball all the way to the ground now. We’ll learn, but it was an amazing play by the DB.”

The drive ended in a field goal, pushing the Gamecock lead to 10-5. Minutes later, Hokies kicker John Love answered with a 56-yard field goal to end the half, 10-8.

The defensive slugfest continued into the second half, as both teams’ opening drives stalled out in plus territory. When the Hokies finally started moving, a huge sack by Dylan Stewart, followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on Hokies wide receiver Donavan Greene, gave momentum back to South Carolina

The Gamecock defensive line was key in the Gamecock victory. While the secondary struggled, giving up multiple big plays on contested balls through the air, the defensive front kept South Carolina alive as the offense sputtered.

However, following the big sack, the Gamecock offense was unable to capitalize on the defensive success, punting after four plays. In total, South Carolina picked up only 45 yards in the third quarter.

The weirdness of Sunday afternoon’s contest continued after a formation penalty forced a re-punt from the Hokies.

Virginia Tech punter Nick Veltsistas initially punted the ball out of bounds to the South Carolina 25-yard line. However, his second attempt at the punt spelled disaster for the Hokies as Vicari Swain returned it for a touchdown.

“I told our team in the locker room there’s a lot of coaches that will just say, ‘Hey, we’ll just take the five yards.’ Not us,” Beamer said. “An old special teams coach, not my dad, told me, ‘Nothing good for a kicking team ever happens after a re-kick.”

Beamer recalled a moment in 2009 against Clemson where the Gamecocks re-kicked the ball to Clemson and the Tigers returned it for six.

After Swain muffed an earlier punt return, Beamer told him to take the next one to the house, Swain said.

“I told him, ‘You’re going to make a play before the day’s out to help us win this thing.’ And he certainly did,” Beamer said. “It just goes back; he’s young. We’ve got a lot of young guys. It’s just helping him through those moments.”

Swain was surprised Beamer wanted a rekick. The corner saw the punt team backed up and trusted the blockers in front of him, he said.

The touchdown unlocked the South Carolina offense again. After the Hokies made a field goal, a 60-yard touchdown from Sellers to Harbor gave the Gamecocks a 24-11 lead.

“I feel like the fans were waiting for this more than I did,” Harbor said of his deep touchdown. “…I’m glad I got one for the fans.”

Harbor said Sellers placed a ball where the track star didn’t have to run too fast or too slow, though he was probably at full speed.

“16 put an excellent ball just right in there,” Harbor said. “Just a perfect ball by the best quarterback in the nation.”

The touchdown pushed the junior wide receiver to a career-high 99 yards on three receptions and a touchdown, not including his overturned touchdown reception in the second quarter.

“Really proud of Nyck. How about him covering punts, too?” Beamer said.

A South Carolina interception by Peyton Williams with five minutes to go sealed the Gamecocks’ win as momentum fully entered the Gamecock sideline. Sellers even dipped back into his bag of tricks on third down, the sophomore broke two tackles behind the line of scrimmage on his way to a first-down gain late.

Despite South Carolina driving to just outside the red zone, the Gamecocks elected to kneel out the clock following the two-minute timeout.

“I told them that in the locker room, it’s a heck of a win, it really is,” Beamer said. ” … I’m glad it’s over, though. Let’s go get ready for South Carolina State.”

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