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South Carolina

Staff picks: best of the bye week

On3 imageby: Collyn Taylor10/15/22collyntaylor
On3 image
Michigan's Blake Corum (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

South Carolina players and fans get a breather this weekend. 

The Gamecocks are on a bye, which means they get to revel in the Kentucky win for a few more days while enjoying a full Saturday slate of games. 

It’s the second Saturday South Carolina’s been able to take in this season after moving the South Carolina State game up. 

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With South Carolina off, the GamecockCentral staff gets an odd Saturday off during the season to also relax and watch a few games. 

Here are our staff picks for eight intriguing games on the docket Saturday.

PickerPenn State at MichiganAlabama at TennesseeMinnesota at IllinoisNC State at SyracuseOklahoma State at TCUSouthern Cal at UtahLSU at FloridaAir Force at UNLV
Chris Clark (36-18)MichiganAlabamaIllinoisSyracuseTCUSouthern CalLSUAir Force
Terry Ford (36-18)MichiganAlabamaMinnesotaNC StateTCUUtahLSUAir Force
Pearson Fowler (32-22)MichiganTennesseeMinnesotaSyracuseOklahoma StateSouthern CalLSUAir Force
Joe Macheca (39-15)MichiganTennesseeMinnesotaNC StateOklahoma StateSouthern CalFloridaUNLV
Wes Mitchell (35-19)MichiganTennesseeMinnesotaNC StateTCUSouthern CalLSUAir Force
Jay Phillips (35-19)MichiganAlabamaMinnesotaNC StateOklahoma StateSouthern CalFloridaAir Force
Michael Sauls (33-21)MichiganAlabamaIllinoisSyracuseOklahoma StateSouthern CalFloridaAir Force
Kendall Smith (29-25)MichiganAlabamaIllinoisSyracuseTCUUtahFloridaAir Force
Collyn Taylor (38-16)Penn StateAlabamaMinnesotaSyracuseOklahoma StateUtahFloridaAir Force
Mike Uva (38-16)MichiganAlabamaMinnesotaSyracuseTCUSouthern CalLSUAir Force
Jack Veltri (33-21)MichiganTennesseeIllinoisSyracuseTCUSouthern CalLSUAir Force

The Gamecocks practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and players will get Thursday, Friday and Saturday off. 

South Carolina’s coaching staff will head out on the road recruiting Thursday and Friday and part of Saturday. 

Everyone will be back in the building Sunday to begin preparations for Texas A&M. 

“Any time you get on the road recruiting is huge. This week especially coming off a win we had last Saturday night,” Shane Beamer said. “There’s a lot of excitement and buzz about our football program right now because of the way we played last Saturday. Being able to capitalize on that momentum and out and about the next few days from the recruiting standpoint.”

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The Gamecocks started the season 4-2 with one win in their first three tries against SEC competition. 

The season started with a win over Georgia State before consecutive losses at Arkansas and at home to Georgia.

Since then, South Carolina has rattled off three straight wins, two at home to Charlotte and South Carolina. The Gamecocks are coming off a 24-14 win over Kentucky, the first road win in the SEC under Shane Beamer.

It’s the first win on the road against a ranked team since 2019 and the Gamecocks’ first three-game win streak since 2017. 

“This is major, man. This is a ranked team and we came into their house. We had to show people what we were about,” Juice Wells said after the game. “All the hype in the preseason, we stand on that. We wanted to come out and show people what we’re really about and I think we did that.”

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The Gamecocks come back after the bye week with home games against Texas A&M and Missouri. 

South Carolina ends the season with three of its final four games on the road. There’s a Nov. 5 game at Vanderbilt followed by a road trip to Florida. The final home game is against Tennessee before ending the season on the road at Clemson.

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