How On3's JD PicKell thinks South Carolina's 2025 season will go

With fall camp starting at the end of the week, Gamecock fans are counting down the days until kickoff. Expectations are high in Columbia, and some national analysts believe this fall could be special for the garnet and black. Over the weekend, On3’s JD PicKell gave his prediction for how South Carolina’s 2025 season will go.

Said PicKell, “You’ve got the stars on this roster that reset what your floor is. If other guys around them can elevate, and Shane Beamer can get this team to play like they did last year…that’s where you take that next step and go from a team that’s winning eight games and talking about the Playoff to actually making the Playoff.”

Based on his game-by-game prediction, PicKell believes the Gamecocks will again be on the fence of making that happen. He picked South Carolina to go 9-3 again in 2025 with victories over Virginia Tech, South Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Coastal Carolina. That leaves USC losing to Alabama, Texas A&M, and Clemson.

PicKell does not have a 9-3 South Carolina squad making the CFP this fall but believes head coach Shane Beamer has the program heading into another year of contention in 2026.

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Though PicKell likes Carolina’s offense, he believes the Gamecocks will need to have players step into newfound stardom in order for LaNorris Sellers’ supporting cast to get where it needs to be. PicKell mentioned both Nyck Harbor and Mazeo Bennett as potential playmakers at receiver. He also believes the running back position could be important. “There’s some stuff going on with the NCAA…but if [Faison] is in the lineup, man. It’s a massive variable…if he’s eligible, that is like the extra punch you’d have on offense to go with Sellers.” With the potential of Faison and receivers stepping up, PicKell thinks the 2025 offense in Columbia could be special. “You’ve got to worry about 16 and a running back and then you have a receiver step up–again, we’re living in a lot of ifs, potentials, and maybes–but if that happens…things really start to flywheel.”

In a similar way, PicKell is counting on some new faces to emerge on the South Carolina defensive front. “When Dylan Stewart gets double-teamed, Bryan Thomas, you can get loose and make a sack…I need something like that.” Despite the loss of Nick Emmanwori and O’Donnell Fortune to the NFL, he isn’t worried about the Gamecock secondary. “With the way South Carolina has developed in the secondary, there’s not a lot of names to point to right now, but there’s this expectation–for me at least–that they will have a good secondary overall.”

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South Carolina will begin the 2025 season with a neutral-site affair against Virginia Tech. The game will mark a critical test for a favored Carolina team. The Gamecocks and Hokies will play in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 31st.

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