South Carolina backs out of 2019 nonconference game

South Carolina and East Carolina are familiar foes on the football field, but one future game has been scratched from the schedule, the Pirates’ athletics director said Tuesday.

East Carolina athletics director Jeff Compher, in an interview with Pirate Radio 1250 and 930 AM, said the Gamecocks won’t make the trip to Greenville, N.C., in 2019 as scheduled.

The decision means the Gamecocks will look to fill a nonconference schedule that includes North Carolina (in Charlotte) and home games against Clemson and Charleston Southern.

“They have a game in Charlotte and that limited the number of home games they had,” Compher said, “so they elected not to come here.”

The change means a $1 million payment for cancellation, according to Compher.

Compher called USC Athletics Director Ray Tanner a good friend and said the change won’t affect future scheduling between the two teams.

“I never want to rule out the possibilities for the future,” Compher told Pirate Radio. “We’ll continue to have good conversations around the opportunity for them to come here and for us to continue to play them in the future.”

South Carolina is 14-5 all-time against the Pirates, including a 20-15 win in 2016 during Will Muschamp’s first season as coach.

USC is still scheduled to host ECU in 2020 and play at the Pirates’ Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2021.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 6:59 PM with the headline "South Carolina backs out of 2019 nonconference game."