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Staff picks: South Carolina bye week, interesting games out West

On3 imageby: Collyn Taylor10/06/23collyntaylor
Texas and Oklahoma head coaches meet before a game
Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venebles (Bryan Terry/USA Today)

South Carolina is off this week, which means the Gamecocks players, staff and fans get a chance for a stress-free Saturday.

There are a ton of games of note pitting interesting–and potential conference champions–against each other like Texas and Oklahoma and Fresno State and Wyoming.

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Here’s the GamecockCentral staff picks for what has a chance to be an interesting week of college football.

Texas vs. OULSU at MissouriTexas Tech at BaylorWashington St. at UCLAMarshall at NC StateAlabama at Texas A&MFresno State at WyomingNebraska at IllinoisArizona at Southern Cal
Chris Clark (28-17)TexasLSUTexas TechUCLANC StateAlabamaWyomingIllinoisSouthern Cal
Terry Ford (28-17)TexasLSUTexas TechWashington St.NC StateAlabamaFresno St.IllinoisSouthern Cal
Griffin Goodwyn (33-12)TexasLSUTexas TechWashington St.NC StateAlabamaFresno St.IllinoisSouthern Cal
Tyler Head (24-21)TexasLSUTexas TechWashington St.NC StateAlabamaWyomingIllinoisSouthern Cal
Joe Macheca (27-18)TexasMissouriTexas TechUCLANC StateAlabamaFresno St.IllinoisSouthern Cal
Wes Mitchell (34-11)TexasLSUTexas TechUCLANC StateTexas A&MFresno St.NebraskaSouthern Cal
Jay Phillips (31-14)TexasLSUTexas TechUCLANC StateAlabamaWyomingIllinoisSouthern Cal
Kendall Smith (30-15)TexasMissouriBaylorWashington St.NC StateAlabamaWyomingIllinoisSouthern Cal
Collyn Taylor (24-21)TexasMissouriTexas TechWashington St.MarshallTexas A&MFresno St.IllinoisSouthern Cal
Mike Uva (33-12)TexasLSUTexas TechUCLANC StateAlabamaFresno St.IllinoisSouthern Cal
Jack Veltri (26-19)TexasLSUBaylorWashington St.MarshallAlabamaWyomingIllinoisSouthern Cal
Chris Wellbaum (26-19)TexasMissouriTexas TechWashington St.NC StateAlabamaFresno St.NebraskaSouthern Cal

Gamecocks Connection: Win Anyway?

by Chris Clark

Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.

This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country, reader questions, and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.

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If you would like to get this piece directly to your inbox, you can get it for free here.

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What’s on the docket today?

A mantra that took off in the midst of USC’s greatest sports run ever is still being applied today, to the 2023 Gamecock football team. Should it be? 


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Get caught up.

Three quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.

🏈 If you’re into predictions and analytics, you can see how Massey and ESPN metrics predict South Carolina to finish in 2023.

[Get breaking news from GamecockCentral]

🏈 USC has released a special “BUY week” ticket promotion for the Jacksonville State game. Tickets are $25 a pop for a limited time.

🏀 Lamont Paris picked up another hoops commitment this week. See what the newest Gamecock pledge, Trent Noah, had to say about it here.


The main idea.

— Win anyway. 

It’s a phrase that was frequently utilized by Ray Tanner and one that was canonized in Columbia after his Gamecocks captured a national title – its second straight – in 2011.

Continue reading here.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!