South Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina: Kickoff time, TV channel, injury report, odds
South Carolina will attempt to snap the longest losing streak of the Shane Beamer era this weekend.
The Gamecocks (3-7, 1-7 SEC) face off against a Coastal Carolina team (6-4, 5-2 Sun Belt) that has won four of its last five games. South Carolina lost last week to Texas A&M and has dropped five games in a row.
Saturday’s matchup against Coastal will be South Carolina’s first game at home in Williams-Brice Stadium in nearly a month. It’s the beginning of a two-game home stand to end the season for the Gamecocks.
Here’s everything you need to know for this weekend.
South Carolina vs Coastal Carolina: What TV channel?
- Who: South Carolina vs Coastal Carolina
- When: 4:15 p.m. on Saturday
- Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC
- TV: SEC Network
- Stream: ESPN.com or the ESPN app
- Broadcast crew: Dave Neal, Fozzy Whittaker and Morgan Uber
- Local radio crew: Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs and Chet Tucker
- Satellite radio: Sirius XM Channel 106 or 190
- Series history: South Carolina leads all-time series 2-0 (USC won last matchup in 2018)
South Carolina vs Coastal Carolina point spread
The Gamecocks are heavily favored to win on Saturday.
South Carolina opened as a 23.5-point favorite and that’s grown to 24.5, according to the Vegas Insider consensus.
Injury updates
There won’t be any more official availability reports from the SEC for the Gamecocks because their final two games are against out-of-conference opponents.
Beamer said Tuesday that Nyck Harbor and Brandon Cisse statuses were “progressing.” Cisse was “full-go” in practice Tuesday and Harbor, who had to be taken to the hospital after the Texas A&M game, was “better than what he was a couple days ago.”
Jalewis Solomon missed the Texas A&M game with an injury and is “trending in the right direction,” per Beamer.
Weather forecast for Columbia
Fans should expect moderate temperatures and partly cloudy skies on Saturday, according to AccuWeather’s forecast.
Temperatures will be in the mid 70s, getting up to around 80 by the time the game starts, and dropping to the high 60s when the game ends. There’s a chance for some rain before and during the game.
Top storylines for the game
How does South Carolina respond to last week’s epic collapse? South Carolina almost pulled off a major upset of against Texas A&M. Almost. Down 30-3 at halftime, the Aggies scored 28 unanswered in the second half to beat USC 31-30. Beamer said his team has responded well in practice since the loss and the mood has been good around the program in the days since the loss.
Can the Gamecocks keep momentum on offense? South Carolina looked like an entirely different team on offense against Texas A&M for much of the game. Recently promoted play caller Mike Furrey helped the Gamecocks put up season-highs with 388 total yards and 6.06 yards per play. South Carolina’s points production fell off dramatically in the second half, so we’ll see in the final two weeks of the season if Furrey can help the offense put together a complete game.
Senior day for South Carolina: South Carolina will honor their seniors against Coastal Carolina instead of waiting for the final home game against Clemson next week. The 23 players who will be honored are: Oscar Adaway III, Nick Barrett, Jared Brown, Colin Bryant, Demon Clowney, Andrew Colasurdo, Jordan Dingle, Luke Doty, Bradley Dunn, Rahsul Faison, Monkell Goodwine, Jatius Geer, Nathan Harris-Waynick, William Joyce, Buddy Mack III, Chase McCracken, Rodney Newsom Jr., Cole Rasmussen, Eriq Rice, Larry Scott, DQ Smith, Chase Sweigart and Bryan Thomas Jr.
South Carolina and Coastal players to watch
South Carolina RB Jawarn Howell: Howell is the latest Gamecock running back to get playing time. Howell played just six snaps against Texas A&M in what was his second appearance of the season. He tallied 30 rushing yards on three carries. It’s a small sample size, but he was still able to lead the team in rushing. It remains to be seen if it was enough to earn more time on the field in the remaining two weeks of the season.
South Carolina DB Vicari Swain: Swain picked off two passes against Texas A&M last week, tying him with Peyton Williams and Gerald Kilgore for a team-high this season. Swain has continued to make plays on both defense and special teams this season, and could be in line for more against Coastal.
Coastal Carolina DB Xamarion Gordon: The senior safety leads Coastal with 59 total tackles this year. Gordon also leads the Chanticleers with three interceptions. His Pro Football Focus pass coverage, overall defense and tackling grades are among the best on the team.
Coastal Carolina QB Tad Hudson: The sophomore will likely be one of two quarterbacks that South Carolina prepares for on Saturday. Hudson was Coastal’s main quarterback for the beginning of the season, compiling 447 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in the first six games. Hudson was replaced by Samari Collier during Week 7 and has been on the bench watching Collier guide the Chanticleers to a four-game win streak. Collier went down with an injury last week, meaning Hudson could be tabbed to lead the offense again if Collier can’t go against South Carolina.
