ACC analyst says South Carolina is 'overlooked'

The South Carolina football season opens in less than four weeks as the Gamecocks take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in week one. As part of his college football preview, SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic invited ACC Network pundit Roddy Jones onto his podcast, The Cole Cubelic Show, to preview several SEC-vs-ACC matchups, including USC-VT.

During their conversation, Cubelic and Jones were complimentary of Shane Beamer’s team.

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Cubelic argued that, though South Carolina has picked up a lot of buzz this offseason due to the hype surrounding quarterback LaNorris Sellers and EDGE Dylan Stewart, the national media doesn’t view the Gamecocks as highly as they should. “South Carolina is not getting a ton of respect, I don’t feel like, from the national media,” he said. “They’re getting buzz…but a lot of people doubt what the team can be.”

Jones agreed, saying, “I think that South Carolina is probably a little overlooked.” He thinks the Gamecocks’ success in 2024 and the team’s returning star power should propel USC to another good year. “When you have two guys (Sellers and Stewart) who have the potential to be the Players of the Year in the league on offense and defense, I don’t know how you can count that team out.”

Both Cubelic and Jones acknowledged that South Carolina lost some big-time talent from the 2024 team, especially on defense. However, according to Cubelic, “Shane (Beamer) and his staff do more with less out of the (transfer) portal than anybody.” Referencing former Gamecock transfers like Kyle Kennard, Demetrius Knight, Nick Gargiulo, Mario Anderson, and Josh Simon, he said, “They find these guys. There’s going to be two or three guys who are better players than we know or think right now. So, I don’t look at the replacement portion as being that big of a deal…the talent might be upgraded.”

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In breaking down South Carolina’s opener against Virginia Tech, Jones argued that Brent Pry’s team really needs at least one win over the Gamecocks or Vanderbilt Commodores in the season’s first two weeks. The Hokies’ 2025 chance (and Pry’s job security) could be on the line. Not helping matters, “Virginia Tech has been terrible in one-score games under Brent Pry,” Jones said. “They are 1-12 in one-score games…they have to get that corrected.”

Cubelic doesn’t think the Hokies’ offense will be able to do enough against the Carolina defense. “Clayton White, I think, vastly underrated as South Carolina’s defensive coordinator,” Cubelic began. “Yeah, you lose Nick Emmanwori, but you’ve got DQ Smith, Judge Collier. You’ve got four or five guys who have played a lot in that secondary.” He continued, “Bryan Thomas is back at that other defensive end spot (opposite Dylan Stewart), and he’s been in that defense for a while. Monkell Goodwine has now been in that defense for a while. You go get Shawn Murphy from Florida State. The talent might be upgraded.”

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