Five final thoughts and a prediction ahead of South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech
Exactly eight months after South Carolina’s 2024 season ended as a dancing Cheez-It roamed the sidelines, the Gamecocks will finally play football again on Sunday.
You understand the expectations of this team. Shane Beamer entering his fifth season. The Gamecocks coming off a magical season. Returning perhaps the most talented quarterback in school history and the best pass rusher since Jadeveon Clowney.
If it’s not playoff-or-bust, it’s close.
And it all begins Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. South Carolina will take on Virginia Tech. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Those are some facts. Here are some thoughts.
1. Talking myself into this defense
OK, South Carolina’s defense is losing seven starters, its sack leader (Kyle Kennard) and best defensive back in years (Nick Emmanwori). Yes, the group is probably gonna take a step back.
But here’s the thing: That’s OK. As long as it’s not a free fall to the depths of the SEC, the Gamecocks can still win plenty of games with a slightly lesser defense.
Over the last week, though, I have talked myself into the Gamecocks’ defense not falling much. Sure, it lost Emmanwori, but his possible replacement, Peyton Williams, was stout in the snaps he played. And it lost O’Donnell Fortune, but NC State transfer Brandon Cisse might be just as good.
I have not come around yet on the linebackers, but I think Fred Johnson is going to be an absolute star. That alone raises the floor of the linebacker room, regardless of who is put around Johnson.
The defensive tackles lost basically everyone last year and the more I hear from coaches, the more I think the trio of Nick Barrett (R-Sr.), Gabe Brownlow-Dindy (R-Jr.) and Monkell Goodwine (R-Sr.) are experienced and physical enough to create push in the trenches.
That leaves the Kennard replacement — aka the edge opposite Dylan Stewart. This is the biggest question mark. The Gamecocks have already lost a trio of edges to long-term injuries, adding to the pressure on senior Bryan Thomas Jr. — the likely starter who had 4.5 sacks last year.
If Thomas can take a step forward and be just good enough that defenses can’t triple-team Stewart, then why can’t South Carolina’s defense be great again?
2. Meet the woman who helped Rahsul Faison get his waiver.
Erin Abbey received the call Monday afternoon from the NCAA that Faison’s waiver had been approved. The senior AD for compliance then called Beamer.
“Hey Coach, this is probably the most memorable phone call I’ve got to make in some time. I wanted to let you know that Rahsul’s waiver was approved and he’s cleared and good to go,” she said.
It was the joyous reward for Abbey. For months, she had been trying to find a way to best present Faison’s waiver to the NCAA.
Per a university source, Faison’s waiver was held up because of his time at Marshall, where Faison says he grey-shirted in 2019. He enrolled at Marshall and took classes, but didn’t play any football and left after a semester due to financial challenges. In 2020, he returned to Pennsylvania and took online classes at Lackawanna College before resuming his college football career at Snow College in 2021.
Abbey, speaking only to NCAA rules, said that from the moment a student-athlete enrolls at a school, they have five years to play four seasons. One can understand how that wording put Faison — who technically enrolled at Marshall in 2019 — in an odd spot.
The first waiver South Carolina submitted was denied, but Abbey and her team were able to submit a reconsideration to the NCAA using a different argument. That was sent in mid-June — which leads to a follow-up: Why did it take two months for a ruling?
“That’s a hard one to answer,” Abbey told The State. “I mean, there was a lot of documentation in the supplement we provided to the NCAA. … It takes a lot of time to digest.”
But hey, it worked out. And earlier this week, Abbey texted Faison, congratulating him on the ruling.
“He was very, very thankful,” Abbey said. “That young man has gone through a lot of hardship and challenges throughout his life and even in his college career. To see him get to a spot that he worked so hard for, it’s rewarding.”
3. Perhaps the kickers will prove me wrong
The most bizarre thing to me from this South Carolina offseason was that the Gamecocks didn’t get a transfer portal kicker. Didn’t feel the need to bring in someone with experience to at least add to the competition in that room.
Nope. They stood pat. And for the second year in a row, South Carolina will start a kicker who has never attempted a college kick.
Granted, we don’t know who that kicker is yet. Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said we’ll have to wait until warmups Sunday to see whether Mason Love, William Joyce or freshman Max Kelley has won the job.
Perhaps the next Parker White is in that group. Even if he is, I will still be baffled that South Carolina didn’t bring in someone with at least a quarter of White’s made kicks to compete.
4. What will Jordan Dove do?
As defensive line coach Travian Robertson recovers from a seious car accident last week, Beamer announced that assistant D-line coach Jordan Dove would assume Robertson’s roles on Sunday.
Dove is a South Carolina success story. He started in the equipment room, begged coaches for opportunities, spent two seasons as a graduate assistant and was promoted this year.
But what will his roles be on the sidelines of Mercedes-Benz Stadium?
“(His) biggest responsibility is the substitutions,” Beamer said. “Which is something we talk about as a staff the morning of the game.”
Added Beamer: “Jordan will talk about, ‘Here’s who we’re starting and here’s kind of what the rotation is gonna be and here’s when so-and-so is going in.’”
5. Is freshman Shedrick Sarratt Jr. going to start on the OL?
Earlier this week, Sarratt — a four-star prospect from Gaffney — ended up on the watch list for the Shaun Alexander Award, given to the nation’s top freshman of the year. He was one of 37 players to make the list.
I’m the first to tell you these lists are ridiculous. But they also aren’t random. I have a hard time believing the Shaun Alexander Award put Sarratt on its watch list without him being recommended.
And if he’s recommended, that’s a good indication he might have won a starting job at guard. If that’s the case, he’ll follow in the footsteps of Tree Babalade (2023) and Josiah Thompson (2024) as true freshmen to start on South Carolina’s O-line.
Granted, it is not confirmed that Sarratt will get the start, but he’s going to be the first guy I look for during warmups.
PREDICTION: South Carolina 34, Virginia Tech 20
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 7:15 AM.
