Another spring game under the lights for South Carolina football
Another year, another South Carolina spring game at night.
The Gamecocks’ annual Garnet & Black Spring Football Game will be played on Saturday, April 15, at 7 p.m., the school announced Monday.
Admission is free for all fans.
USC’s spring game is the centerpiece of the second annual “Big Gamecock Weekend,” which runs April 14-16 and includes home softball games, home beach volleyball games, the Cocky Trot 5K & Fun Run, a pregame concert and postgame fireworks at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Spring football practice is expected to begin Tuesday March 14.
The 2022 spring game also kicked off at 7 p.m. The game in prior years was typically an early afternoon event.
South Carolina finished No. 23 in last year’s final College Football Playoff rankings and AP Top 25 rankings after going 8-5 with wins over three ranked teams, including No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson in back-to-back weeks.
That was only the seventh time in college football history that a school has defeated AP Top 10 opponents in consecutive weeks as an unranked team and the first time since 2003. It was also South Carolina’s first eight-win season since 2017.
Anticipation is already growing for USC’s third season under coach Shane Beamer, who’s matched Joe Morrison, Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp for the most wins by a South Carolina football coach in his first two seasons at 15-11 and been rewarded with a new five-year, $33 million contract.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. are among the top returners for the Gamecocks, who could be in position for their first AP preseason top 25 ranking since 2014 later this year.
South Carolina also signed the No. 16 composite recruiting class nationally, per 247Sports. That 2023 group is headlined by five-star athlete recruit Nyckoles Harbor, who will play wide receiver.
Initial details for Big Gamecock Weekend are available at GamecocksOnline.com. Full details on parking and gates for the spring game, as well as more details on the weekend, will be released in coming weeks.
“I heard from a lot of our fans who enjoyed last year’s Big Gamecock Weekend,” South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner said in a release. “Our staff has developed another great weekend of activities that will be fun for Gamecock fans.”
South Carolina 2023 football schedule
Sept. 2 — vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte)
Sept. 9 — vs. Furman
Sept. 16 — at Georgia
Sept. 23 — vs. Mississippi State
Sept. 30 — at Tennessee
Oct. 7 — OPEN
Oct. 14 — vs. Florida
Oct. 21 — at Missouri
Oct. 28 — at Texas A&M
Nov. 4 — vs. Jacksonville State
Nov. 11 — vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 18 — vs. Kentucky
Nov. 25 — vs. Clemson
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 12:09 PM.
