Game 11 Preview: Scouting the Wofford Terriers

Saturday will serve as a sentimental day for many people associated with the South Carolina football team.

The Gamecocks will play their final home game of the 2024 season. For some players, it won’t just be their last game of the year at Williams-Brice Stadium – it will be the last home game of their college football career.

But once South Carolina’s senior day festivities conclude, the main event of the afternoon – the team’s matchup against Wofford – will commence.

Before the game kicks off at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network+ (and ESPN+), here’s what the Terriers bring to the table.

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How they got here

Wofford is the lone opponent on the Gamecocks’ 2024 schedule that competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower level of NCAA Division I college football. South Carolina faced off against one in-state FCS opponent – Furman – last season.

The Terriers head into Saturday’s matchup coming off a 30-17 home loss to The Citadel last weekend. Wofford took a 17-10 lead late in the second quarter of the game, only for the Bulldogs to march down the field and make a field goal as time expired. That field goal kicked off a string of 20 unanswered points for The Citadel, which held Wofford scoreless in the second half.

Overall, the Terriers possess a 5-6 overall record a 3-5 mark against Southern Conference opponents. Wofford kicked off the season with consecutive road victories over Gardner-Webb and Richmond, but its winning record evaporated with losses to William & Mary, Mercer and Western Carolina over its next three contests.

The Terriers would suffer another losing run in mid-October – with defeats to Chattanooga and East Tennessee State (ETSU) – after picking up a win over the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). But the team would regain some momentum before its game against the Citadel, earning victories over Samford and Furman.

Last time out

The Gamecocks have not lost in their last 17 meetings with Wofford. South Carolina’s last defeat to the Terriers came in 1917, when they fell by a 20-0 score.

The two teams last faced off on Nov. 18, 2017 – 100 years and one day after that 1917 loss – in a game the Gamecocks would win 31-10.

South Carolina had strong performances on both sides of the football in the contest. Jake Bentley, the team’s starting quarterback at the time, contributed three touchdowns (one through the air, and two on the ground) along with 194 yards on 22-28 passing. The Gamecock defense held Wofford to just 227 yards of offense and forced three turnovers.

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Where they sit in the rankings

The Terriers are not ranked in either the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 or FCS Coaches polls. They additionally have not received any votes in either poll.

Compared to other teams in the Southern Conference, Wofford sits seventh out of nine teams. Here’s where teams in the conference stand heading into the final weekend of FCS action.

1. Mercer (9-2, 6-1 SoCon)
2. Western Carolina (6-5, 5-2 SoCon)
3. Chattanooga (6-5, 5-3 SoCon)
4. ETSU (6-5, 4-3 SoCon)
5. Samford (4-6, 3-3 SoCon)
6. The Citadel (5-6, 3-5 SoCon)
7. Wofford (5-6, 3-5 SoCon)
8. Furman (3-7, 2-4 SoCon)
9. VMI (1-10, 1-6 SoCon)

ESPN gives the Terriers a 1.0 percent chance to win this weekend. Wofford heads into the contest as 42.5-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Players to watch

Amari Odom (Redshirt freshman, quarterback) – Odom has been the Terriers’ primary signal caller for much of the 2024 season. Across seven appearances, he has completed 102 of his 183 pass attempts for 1,350 yards. But he has not been incredibly efficient this year, throwing an equal number of touchdowns and interceptions (six) and accumulating negative rushing yards (-21) on the season.

Ryan Ingram (Fifth-year, running back) – Ingram was Wofford’s leading rusher one year ago, and he returned to the program as its leading running back in 2024. He has accumulated 650 rushing yards (good for sixth in the conference) and scored six touchdowns on 142 carries this year. A preseason first-team all-conference nominee, Ingram totaled 837 yards and six scores on 156 rushing attempts last season.

Jalen Marshall (Junior, linebacker) – Marshall has emerged as one Wofford’s most disruptive forces behind the line of scrimmage. He is currently tied for third in the Southern Conference in tackles for loss (12.0) and tied for sixth in tackles. Marshall additionally has forced one fumble and picked off one pass, in addition to breaking up six more.

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Path to victory

South Carolina, after going through a gauntlet of an SEC schedule, will now face off against an opponent that it is a massive favorite against.

And there is a reason for that, as the Terriers have struggled on offense this season. Wofford is averaging just 16.7 points per game, as opposed to allowing 22.1 points per game to its opponents. The Terriers logged these statistics in matches against other FCS teams, which means the Gamecocks will be the biggest challenge they have faced so far.

It doesn’t help Wofford that South Carolina’s offense is in the midst of its best stretch of games this year. The Gamecocks have generated single-game yardage totals of 530, 452 and 462 over its last three contests, which they have scored a combined 106 points in. All three of those games resulted in victories against teams ranked in the AP’s top 25 at the time (No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 24 Missouri).

Because of this, the Gamecocks will be looking to score plenty of points early in the game, which will allow their starters to rest ahead of the team’s highly-anticipated match against Clemson next weekend.

But that doesn’t mean the Terriers won’t have any tricks up their sleeves. Shane Beamer mentioned on Tuesday that Wofford has proven it can make game-altering plays on special teams, whether it be a fake punt (as it attempted against Chattanooga earlier this year) or a fake field goal (as it attempted against both Richmond and Western Carolina).

Limiting the Terriers in all three phases of the game – in addition to feeding off the energy provided from a sold-out home crowd – will help South Carolina to a relatively stress-free Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

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