An early look at South Carolina’s challenging 2020 football schedule
The South Carolina football team is looking for a bounceback in 2020.
The 4-8 record last year was the program’s second-worst since 1999. USC coach Will Muschamp is heading into Year 5 likely needing to at least stabilize things, or else calls for his job will grow even louder.
And the road ahead isn’t an easy one.
A look at what the Gamecocks will have to get through next season:
Saturday, Sept. 5, home vs. Coastal Carolina: This should be a nice way to ease things in. The Chanticleers went 5-7 in Year 2 with Jamey Chadwell, Year 1 for him as full-time head coach. Coastal has a feisty offense with option principles, and top rusher CJ Marable should return. But the defense wasn’t great, and it’s still a Sun Belt team coming to Columbia.
Saturday, Sept. 12, home vs. East Carolina: The Pirates went 4-8 in 2019 in their first season with Mike Houston at the helm. He’s built strong programs at Lenoir-Rhyne, The Citadel and James Madison, and had ECU somewhat improved from the Scottie Montgomery era. The team’s top passer, rusher and top three receivers project to all come back. Houston was at the helm of the Citadel team that beat USC in 2015.
Saturday, Sept. 19, home vs. Missouri: The Tigers smothered the Gamecocks and scored twice on defense in 2019, looking formidable early before fizzling late. Mizzou loses QB Kelly Bryant, and that late skid (plus some other issues) cost Barry Odom his job. App State’s Eliah Drinkwitz, who led the Mountaineers to a win in Williams-Brice last year, takes over a team that allowed only 19.4 points per game in 2019, and should return its top two rushers and several key receivers. Talented tight end Albert Okwuegbunam is leaving for the draft.
Saturday, Sep. 26, at Kentucky: The Wildcats rebuilt themselves in 2019 with wide receiver Lynn Bowden at quarterback. He’s gone now, and UK will again be looking to cobble together pieces on offense. Terry Wilson returns from injury, and the defense tightened down the stretch. The Gamecocks broke a five-game skid in this series last year, and if they want to return to a bowl they’ll likely need to start a streak of their own in Lexington. The Wildcats have also been a bowl-quality team four years in a row.
Saturday, Oct. 3, at Florida: The first truly hard game of the season, the Gators are coming off an 11-2 season despite not actually having the power running game Dan Mullen usually favors. The Gators have recruited well of late, and this should be another tall task. South Carolina has led in the fourth quarter of each of the past three meetings.
Saturday, Oct. 10, home vs. Tennessee: The Vols pulled off an upset in Knoxville last season, part of their six-game winning streak to close out the season. UT was a trendy pick to improve before 2019, started with losses to BYU and Georgia State and ended up improving anyway. The Vols lose their two best receivers but do return oft-criticized QB Jarrett Guarantano. Otherwise most of the lineup should return.
Saturday, Oct. 24, home vs. Texas A&M: South Carolina was beat up when it faced Texas A&M in 2019 and put up a fight defensively before wearing down. At the moment, the Aggies are set to lose only four starters — a receiver, a defensive tackle, a center and a defensive end — so they should remain solid. Last season, a brutal schedule tamped down the Aggies’ record, but they should be in position to step forward on that front in 2020.
Saturday, Oct. 31, at Vanderbilt: The Commodores had won five or six games each season for three years heading into 2019. They fell to 3-9 with a mess of quarterback injuries and issues that led to the firing of both coordinators. Despite South Carolina’s own ups and downs and some solid years for Vandy, the Gamecocks haven’t lost in the SEC East series since QB Chris Smelley was taking snaps.
Saturday, Nov. 7, home vs. Georgia: USC pulled the upset last season, and that’s been carried as the sign this off-season of what the Gamecocks program could potentially be. The Bulldogs again project to be loaded for bear with talent and will again pose a large challenge.
Saturday Nov. 14, at LSU: What this team looks like after a run to the national title game isn’t yet clear. QB Joe Burrow will be moving on. A lot of other talent likely will leave as well, especially when draft declarations finish up. But the defense and offense will almost assuredly be in the hands of good coordinators, and the high-level recruiting has not stopped. So it’s another enormous challenge.
Saturday, Nov. 21, home vs. Wofford: A little bit of a break among national title contenders, the Terriers are a perennially strong FCS outfit, but still an FCS team. Preparing for the option will likely be a modest task, but this shouldn’t be much more than a blip for South Carolina.
Saturday, Nov. 28, at Clemson: The Tigers will lose most of their offensive line, two safeties and a couple more defenders, before several receivers, an explosive running back and several key defenders look at the NFL. Trevor Lawrence is back at quarterback with plenty of blue-chip talent around him. USC will be looking to prevent a seven-game skid against its rival, which would match the longest in the series, and it won’t get any easier.
The Gamecocks’ 2020 schedule, in summary
Unlike in 2019, when South Carolina’s FBS opponents averaged better than nine wins, the bottom of this slate is a little softer. A 3-1 non-conference record should be expected. Then things get tricky.
The set of Texas A&M, Florida, Clemson, Georgia, and LSU is about as formidable as the top five games in 2019, and perhaps even harder because Dan Mullen and Jimbo Fisher are more settled in at their respective schools.
That means the set of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, give or take an upset against that top group, will again decide things for USC.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
