South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech: Kickoff time, TV channel, injury report, odds
Gamecocks fans, rejoice! College football is officially back.
South Carolina kicks off the 2025 campaign against a talented Virginia Tech team on Sunday in Atlanta. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 13 coming off a 9-4 season last year, the best of the Shane Beamer era.
Here’s everything you need to know about South Carolina’s 2025 season opener:
South Carolina vs Virginia Tech, TV info
- Who: No. 13 South Carolina vs Virginia Tech
- When: 3 p.m. Sunday
- Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
- TV: ESPN
- Broadcast crew: Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden
- Stream: Via ESPN app
- National radio: ESPN Radio (Mark Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer, Ian Fitzsimmons).
- Local radio: 107.5 FM in the Columbia area. See affiliates here. (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Chet Tucker)
- Satellite radio: SiriusXM Channel 81
- Series history: South Carolina leads 11-7-2 (last game played in 1991).
South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech betting odds
South Carolina is a 7.5-point favorite over Virginia Tech in the Gamecocks’ season opener, per the VegasInsider.com consensus betting line.
The Gamecocks initially opened as 10-point favorites but the line has slowly moved down to 7.5 in most major sportsbooks.
Game prediction
South Carolina has a 70.9% chance to win the game, according to ESPN Analytics.
Injury report
There’s no official injury report and won’t be until South Carolina plays a conference game. Still, we know the Gamecocks are expected to be without three edge rushers for various “lower body” injuries: George Wilson, Jaylen Brown and Kobby Sakyi-Prah.
Weather forecast for Atlanta
Football weather will be in the air in Atlanta on Sunday. The afternoon high will be 75 degrees and the skies will be mostly cloudy, per The Weather Channel. There is a 24% chance of rain on Sunday. All that could change between now and kickoff, but not much of it will matter: Mercedes-Benz Stadium is an indoor venue.
Top storylines for the game
- Shane Beamer vs. Virginia Tech: Perhaps the most well-documented storyline of the Gamecocks’ 2025 season opener is the deep connection Shane Beamer has with Virginia Tech. Beamer’s father, Frank, is a Hall of Fame college football coach who led the Hokies from 1987 to 2015. Frank Beamer took Virginia Tech to 23 straight bowl games. Shane played for his father at Virginia Tech and was a member of five of those bowl teams from 1995 to 1999. The father-son duo coached together from 2011 to 2015 when Shane Beamer was Virginia Tech’s assistant head coach and running backs coach.
- How the South Carolina defense performs: USC lost seven defensive starters from last year’s team, several of whom are now on NFL rosters. All eyes will be on the Gamecocks’ defensive unit to see how the four returning starters mesh with transfer portal acquisitions and young players. Many national outlets predict that South Carolina’s defense to take a step back from last season, but coaches and players expect the Gamecocks to be just as good, if not better, than last year’s team. We’ll see how they perform early against Virginia Tech.
- What will Rahsul Faison do?: Transfer running back Rahsul Faison was cleared for a seventh year of eligibility Monday after a nearly nine-month wait. Beamer said Faison adds more talent to what he believes is an already deep position group. Faison earned All-Mountain West honors last year after he ran for over 1,000 yards at Utah State and was expected to fight for the starting job once he transferred to South Carolina. It will be interesting to see how long the Gamecocks will go “by-committee” in the run game before someone, presumably Faison, takes over the bulk of the workload.
- Preseason hype heading into opener: South Carolina enters the season ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25. It’s the first time since 2014 that the Gamecocks are ranked heading into Week 1. Back in 2014, South Carolina was shellacked by Texas A&M on national television to open the season. Fans are hoping the Gamecocks can live up to the hype around the team and start off the year with a win.
South Carolina and Virginia Tech players to watch
- South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers: Expectations for Sellers are sky-high after he led the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record in his first year as a starter. The redshirt sophomore comes into the 2025 season with Heisman Trophy buzz, preseason All-American honors, preseason All-SEC nods and is on a watch list for five national awards.
- South Carolina edge Dylan Stewart: Just like Sellers, the expectation is Stewart will take a major leap in his sophomore season. He’s been named a preseason All-American and preseason All-SEC player and will receive a lot of attention from opposing offensive linemen who aim to keep him from wreaking havoc in the backfield as he did all last year.
- Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones: Drones has thrown for 3,647 yards and 27 touchdowns while also adding 1,154 yards and 11 scores on the ground in two years with the Hokies. He has a similar skillset to Sellers and can be a problem through the air and on the ground for the Gamecock defense.
- Virginia Tech DL Kelvin Gillam Jr.: Like South Carolina, Virginia Tech is also replacing production on the defensive line. Gillam will be a go-to guy in the trenches for the Hokies. He started six games for VT last year and tallied 35 tackles.
South Carolina football 2025 schedule
Early = Noon to 1 p.m. ET start; Afternoon: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. start; Flex: Games flexed between the Afternoon (3:30-4:30 p.m.) and Night (6-8 p.m.) windows.
- Aug. 31 vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta) - 3 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sept. 6 vs. South Carolina State - 7 p.m. (ESPN+/SEC Network Plus)
- Sept. 13 vs. Vanderbilt - 7 or 7:45 p.m. (ESPN or SEC Network)
- Sept. 20 at Missouri - TBD/Flex
- Sept. 27 vs. Kentucky - TBD/Flex
- Oct. 11 at No. 9 Louisiana State - TBD/Flex
- Oct. 18 vs. No. 18 Oklahoma - TBD/Early
- Oct. 25 vs. No. 8 Alabama - TBD/Flex
- Nov. 1 at No. 21 Ole Miss - TBD/Flex
- Nov. 15 at No. 19 Texas A&M - TBD/Early
- Nov. 22 vs. Coastal Carolina - TBD/Afternoon
- Nov. 29 vs. No. 4 Clemson - Noon (ABC or ESPN)
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
