How did South Carolina land a standalone season-opening game? Here’s the story
In a way, Gary Stokan got lucky.
For years, the Peach Bowl’s CEO and president had been trying to land South Carolina in his annual marquee kickoff game in Atlanta. That’s in part because the Gamecocks are a known program with a large fan base in close proximity to Atlanta, but also because he wanted to work with former athletic director Ray Tanner.
Stokan and Tanner were classmates at North Carolina State in the late 1970s, with Stokan playing on the men’s basketball team and Tanner on the Wolfpack baseball team before the two became N.C. State assistant coaches for their respective programs.
“We had probably been working on getting a game together for 10 years,” Stokan said. “It just so happened that ‘25 was going to be an opportunity to do something, and Ray and I put that together.”
The contract for the 2025 season opener between South Carolina and Virginia Tech was signed on Aug. 11, 2020. The luck came a few months later, when the Gamecocks tabbed Shane Beamer as head coach, adding familial intrigue to the Stokan’s Aflac Kickoff Game.
Though Beamer played and graduated from Virginia Tech, his father Frank Beamer is probably the most-beloved figure in Hokies history. After 29 seasons leading Virginia Tech, which included a trip to the national title game in 1999, he retired in 2016 as the winningest active coach in FBS history and now has a statue outside the Tech stadium.
While the 2025 season opener was not scheduled as the “Beamer Bowl,” it has become that. For Stokan, though, it’s a chance to honor Frank and Cheryl Beamer.
Before the game, Stokan said, Frank and Cheryl will be down on the field and recognized. And Frank — who’s competed in the Peach Bowl, the kickoff game, the Peach Bowl golf tournament and more — will give the game’s invocation.
“It’s gonna be a special day for the Beamer family,” Stokan said. “We thought it was a must that we recognize them.”
What casual viewers of the South Carolina-Virginia Tech game will soon recognize is, well, there’s nothing else on. The Gamecocks and Hokies are just one of two games being played on Sunday, Aug. 31 — and they have the 3 p.m. time slot all to themselves, something Stokan worked to get.
While the Peach Bowl is also hosting a game Saturday at noon — Tennessee vs. Syracuse — Stokan said he went to ESPN explaining that the NFL doesn’t play on Aug. 31 and, because it’s Labor Day weekend, folks will be able to spend the weekend in Atlanta and travel home without missing work.
“For travel, it just made a whole heck of a lot of sense,” he said. “But we’ll be the only game on at that time so viewership will be great.”
The attendance, too, should be stellar.
Stokan noted that the Peach Bowl has sold out its ticket allotment and said the indication is both South Carolina and Virginia Tech — which each received over 25,000 tickets to distribute — will sell through their allocation.
“We’re hoping we see a full Mercedes-Benz Stadium and a sellout,” Stokan said.
Stokan speaks of South Carolina with so much admiration and excitement, it’s a bit surprising that the Gamecocks have never opened a season in Atlanta. Whether it happens again is currently quite murky. Until the SEC makes a decision on whether its football teams will play eight or nine conference games, Stokan said, athletic directors have been hesitant to add future non-conference matchups.
South Carolina currently has its season openers scheduled through 2029. The Gamecocks are contracted to play Miami (2026), Furman (’27), North Carolina (’28) and at North Carolina (’29).
“We haven’t talked with (South Carolina) past this year,” Stokan said. “But, obviously, we’d be interested.”
South Carolina’s 2025 football schedule
Flex games kick off in either 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. range, or 7 to 8 p.m. range
- Aug. 31: vs. Virginia Tech in Atlanta, 3 p.m. on ESPN
- Sept. 6: vs. SC State, 7 p.m. on SECN+
- Sept. 13: vs. Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. on ESPN OR 7:45 p.m. on SEC Network
- Sept. 20: at Missouri, flex game (afternoon or night)
- Sept. 27: vs. Kentucky, flex game (afternoon or night)
- Oct. 4: BYE WEEK
- Oct. 11: at LSU, flex game (afternoon or night)
- Oct. 18: vs. Oklahoma, early game (noon to 1 p.m.)
- Oct. 25: vs. Alabama, flex game (afternoon or night)
- Nov. 1: at Ole Miss, flex game (afternoon or night)
- Nov. 8: BYE WEEK
- Nov. 15: at Texas A&M, early game (noon to 1 p.m.)
- Nov. 22: vs. Coastal Carolina, afternoon game (3:30 to 4:30 p.m.)
- Nov. 29: vs. Clemson, noon on ESPN or ABC
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
