Start planning, USC fans. Kickoff times now set for Gamecocks’ first 3 games of 2019

South Carolina football fans can really start planning now. The Gamecocks’ football team will open the 2019 season with three-straight early kick games, it was announced Thursday.

South Carolina’s 2019 football season will open with a middle-of-the-afternoon tilt at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The Gamecocks’ Belk Kickoff Game against North Carolina will start at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 31, the school announced, and be televised nationally on ESPN.

The Gamecocks in their home opener the following week will start off at noon Sept. 7 against FCS Charleston Southern on SEC Network. This is the second year in a row USC has opened at home against a non-Power 5 team in the early timeslot.

As was previously announced, South Carolina will face Alabama at 3:30 in Week 3 on CBS.

South Carolina’s last appearance in the Charlotte game, a 2017 win against N.C. State, started at 3 p.m. Last year’s edition of the game was 3:30, and the first, which pitted USC against UNC in 2015, was at 6 p.m. The 2019 opener pits South Carolina coach Will Muschamp against Mack Brown, his former boss. The pair coached together at Texas for three seasons before Muschamp took over Florida.

South Carolina has won four openers in a row and 18 of 19.

This season is the first time the Gamecocks won’t face an FCS opponent immediately before the Clemson game since 2014. Last season the Charleston Southern Buccaneers went 5-6. The lone SEC game was a 53-6 loss to Florida. They are a few years removed from going 35-14 under Jamey Chadwell, but fell to 11-11 the past two seasons.

The last time USC and Alabama met was a classic. The No. 1 Crimson Tide was on a 19-game winning streak, a 32-2 run that included a national title. The Gamecocks prevailed 35-21 in the 2010 game played at Williams-Brice Stadium.

SOUTH CAROLINA 2019 SCHEDULE

Aug. 31 — North Carolina (2-9 last season)* 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Sept. 7 — Charleston Southern (5-6) noon, SEC Network

Sept. 14 — Alabama (14-1) 3:30 pm, CBS

Sept. 21 — at Missouri (8-5)

Sept. 28 — Kentucky (10-3)

Oct. 12 — at Georgia (11-3)

Oct. 19 — Florida (10-3)

Oct. 26 — at Tennessee (5-7)

Nov. 2 — Vanderbilt (6-7)

Nov. 9 — Appalachian State (11-2)

Nov. 16 — at Texas A&M (9-4)

Nov. 30 — Clemson (15-0)

*in Charlotte

This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 12:05 PM.