Game time for set South Carolina-Va Tech football season opener
Start the countdown to the 2025 South Carolina football season.
The Gamecocks will kick off against Virginia Tech at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, ESPN announced Tuesday afternoon. The game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. ESPN will broadcast the game.
The early storyline is South Carolina coach Shane Beamer facing off against the school that his dad, Frank Beamer, turned into a national powerhouse. In a tenure that went from 1987 to 2015, Frank Beamer amassed 238 victories and made a national-championship-game appearance in 1999 — a team that Shane was a part of.
Aside from that connection, South Carolina and Virginia Tech are in very different positions.
The Hokies, coming off a 6-7 season under coach Brent Pry, are trying to get back to the Frank Beamer days, when Virginia Tech was a mainstay in the Top 25. Meanwhile, South Carolina has its eyes on the College Football Playoff after 2024 season that included nine wins and the emergence of quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
Also for the Gamecocks, it kicks off what is a relatively mild start to the season. After taking on Virginia Tech, South Carolina will face off against S.C. State, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Kentucky. There’s a chance the Gamecocks won’t play a ranked team until Oct. 11 at LSU.
But, before that can happen, South Carolina will have to play in Atlanta. And, for what it’s worth: The Gamecocks have struggled recently in neutral-site games, losing its last three: the 2022 Gator Bowl vs Notre Dame, the 2023 season-opener to North Carolina in Charlotte and the 2024 Citrus Bowl against Illinois.
No other kickoff times have been announced yet for the 2025 season.
South Carolina’s 2025 football schedule
- Aug. 31: vs. Virginia Tech in Atlanta, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sept. 6: vs. S.C. State
- Sept. 13: vs. Vanderbilt
- Sept. 20: at Missouri
- Sept. 27: vs. Kentucky
- Oct. 4: BYE WEEK
- Oct. 11: at LSU
- Oct. 18: vs. Oklahoma
- Oct. 25: vs. Alabama
- Nov. 1: at Ole Miss
- Nov. 8: BYE WEEK
- Nov. 15: at Texas A&M
- Nov. 22: vs. Coastal Carolina
- Nov. 29: vs. Clemson
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 11:44 AM.
