South Carolina hosts No. 16 LSU on Saturday with a chance to pick up a major statement win. The Gamecocks got their first SEC win of the season out of the way last week, pulling off a 31-6 upset win over Kentucky in Lexington. Now, they return home with the chance to pull off the biggest win of the Shane Beamer era if they can take down a ranked LSU.
It will not be easy.
While the Tigers lost their opener against USC, they come to town with one of the most prolific passing attacks in the country, led by quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
The game pits the LSU passing game against a South Carolina defense that’s been great through two starts and harassed Kentucky’s Brock Vandagriff last week.
LSU vs. South Carolina: Need to know
South Carolina hasn’t beaten LSU since 1994: These teams didn’t meet often under the SEC’s previous East and West division format, with the last meeting coming during the 2020 season. South Carolina is happy to rarely see LSU, because things have never gone particularly well. LSU has won seven straight in the series, with South Carolina’s last victory coming in an 18-17 win in Baton Rouge in 1994. The next season saw them tie 20-20 in Columbia. The craziest stat? South Carolina’s last home win against LSU came in the first home game the Gamecocks ever hosted against the Tigers back in 1930.
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is tied for the most TD passes in the country: Nussmeier lit up Nicholls for six touchdown passes last week to wash the taste of that USC loss out of LSU’s mouth, and he comes into this game having thrown eight touchdowns on the season. That ties him with Syracuse’ Kyle McCord for the most in the country. Given the struggles LSU has had on the ground, and how good the South Carolina defense has been, the Tigers will need their QB to continue delivering this weekend.
South Carolina has lost five straight against ranked opponents: Now, for a lot of programs, five straight losses against ranked teams might span a number of seasons, but have you seen South Carolina’s schedule every year? Yes, it’s lost five straight, but the last win came in 2022. That was a 31-30 win at Clemson to finish the regular season, and it came only a week after beating a ranked Tennessee team 63-38 in Columbia. So it’s not totally out of the norm for the Gamecocks to shock somebody. If they do so this weekend, it’ll only be the second time in the last eight years LSU has lost its SEC opener.
How to watch LSU vs. South Carolina live
Date: Saturday, September 14 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Williams-Brice Stadium — Columbia, South Carolina
TV: ABC | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
LSU vs. South Carolina prediction, picks
Honestly, I don’t love anything in this game. The total seems just about right, but while I’m hestitant to back LSU as a road favorite of this size, this matchup doesn’t seem to be too bad for the Tigers. LSU’s defensive weakness is its secondary and I don’t know that South Carolina is capable of exploiting it the way other teams are. Pick: LSU -7
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