Gameday Guide: South Carolina vs. Akron

After a hard fought loss to LSU, the Gamecocks gear up for another week of action at Williams Brice Stadium. South Carolina will host a member of the Mid-Atlantic Conference, the Akron Zips, for a game under the lights Saturday.

Akron (1-2, 0-0 MAC) @ South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 SEC)

When: Sept. 2, 2024 – 7:30 ET
Where: Columbia, S.C. – Williams Brice Stadium (77,559)
Broadcast: ESPNU (Clay Matvick, Steve Addazio)
Local Radio: Gamecock Sports Network (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Chet Tucker)
Satellite Radio: Sirius/XM Channel 374
Odds: Gamecocks -28
Weather: 85°, Sunny

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South Carolina vs. Akron Preview Content

• Ball security is a big problem for South Carolina. How the offense hopes to fix that
• What Dowell Loggains and Clayton White said previewing Akron
• Redshirt Tracker: ‘Core six freshmen’ keep logging snaps
• How to watch South Carolina vs. Akron
• How Maurice Brown II knew he was ‘going to get it’ and block a punt last Saturday
• 5 things you should hope to see from South Carolina in a favorable Week 4 matchup
• Three things to know about Akron
• South Carolina’s keys to the game vs Akron

How to watch today’s game

Saturday’s game will be broadcasted by ESPNU through the ESPN Network. The Gamecocks will kickoff at 7:30 P.M. under the lights at Williams Brice Stadium.

The ESPNU Network is available nationwide from every major cable, satellite, and streaming provider.

GC LIVE: Thoughts from OC/DC pressers | Looking ahead to Akron

Quick Notes from South Carolina Athletics

QUICKLY: After back-to-back Southeastern Conference games, the South Carolina Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 SEC) step out of conference action on Saturday, Sept. 21, when they host the Akron Zips (1-2, 0-0 MAC) out of the Mid-American Conference. The contest is slated for 7:30 pm at Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559) in Columbia. A full house is expected for the game as it’s Family Weekend on the University of South Carolina campus and it’s the first night game of the 2024 season.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: This week’s contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Clay Matvick will handle the play-by-play with former Temple, Boston College and Colorado State head coach Steve Addazio providing the color commentary. The Gamecock Sports Radio Network features a pair of Gamecock Great quarterbacks in play-by-play voice Todd Ellis (33rd season) and analyst Tommy Suggs (52nd season). Chet Tucker returns for his second year as the sideline reporter.

LET ME REINTRODUCE MYSELF: The South Carolina Gamecocks are off to a 2-1 start this season. They opened with a hard-fought 23-19 win over Old Dominion, then dominated Kentucky in the SEC opener, winning by a 31-6 count in Lexington, the largest road win in the Shane Beamer Era at South Carolina. The Gamecocks were unable to hold onto a 17-0 first half lead last week in a heartbreaking 36-33 setback to No. 16/17 LSU despite rushing for 243 yards, forcing two turnovers and blocking a punt.

ZIP INTO THE WIN COLUMN: Akron enters this week’s contest with a 1-2 mark. The Zips dropped a pair of lopsided games against Big Ten schools Ohio State (52-6) and Rutgers (49-17) on the road to open the season before rallying from a 17-0 first-quarter deficit to post a 31-20 win over FCS-level Colgate last Saturday in their home opener. The Zips final eight games of the season after this week are all MAC contests.

A LITTLE HISTORY: 2024 marks year four of the Shane Beamer Era and the 131st season of intercollegiate football at the University of South Carolina, dating back to 1892. It is the 118th-consecutive year in which South Carolina has competed on the gridiron. The University did not field a team in either 1893 or 1906. Carolina owns an all-time record of 636-614-44, a .509 winning percentage. Since the start of the 21st century, the Gamecocks are 170-132, a .563 winning clip. In four seasons under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 22-19, a .537 winning percentage, including wins in five of their last seven games.

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IT JUST MEANS MORE: The 2024 season is South Carolina’s 33rd year in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina and Arkansas joined the SEC prior to the 1992 campaign. The Gamecocks earned the SEC Eastern Division title in the 2010 season. The Gamecocks are 110-149-1 (.425) all-time in SEC regular season play but posted a 42-38 (.525) record in conference action from 2010-19. Under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 11-15 in SEC play, a .423 winning percentage.

TOUGH SLATE: South Carolina again has one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2024, as seven of its 12 regular-season opponents were ranked in the nation’s preseason top-20. The Gamecocks’ 2024 slate includes contests against preseason top-20 teams Alabama (5/5), Ole Miss (6/6), Missouri (11/11), LSU (13/12), Clemson (14/14), Oklahoma (16/16) and Texas A&M (20/20).

GAMECOCKS VS. ZIPS: This is the second gridiron battle between the SEC’s South Carolina Gamecocks and the Akron Zips, out of the Mid-American Conference. South Carolina was a 28-3 winner in 2018, the only previous encounter between the two squads.

IT TOOK AN ACT OF GOD: South Carolina and Akron met on Dec. 1, 2018 in Columbia in the only previous meeting between the two schools. The game was added to the schedule after both teams had early season contests called off due to weath- er. The Gamecocks were slated to host Marshall on Sept. 15, but that game was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. The Zips were scheduled to play at Nebraska on Sept. 1, however that game was canceled due to lightning.

SO WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GAME?: Deebo Samuel scored three times, two on touchdown passes from Jake Bentley and a third on a fumbled snap in the end zone while the Zips were in punt formation, as the Gamecocks wrapped up the 2018 regular season with a 28-3 win over Akron on Dec. 1. The game which was played on a wet, cold December afternoon, was marred by seven turnovers. Bentley finished the day completing 14-of-27 passes for 199 yards. Mon Denson rushed 17 times for 110 yards and Rico Dowdle added 86 yards on 13 carries. Bryan Edwards caught five passes for 109 yards. The Carolina defense had 11 tackles for loss including five sacks in the contest. The Gamecocks, under the leadership of Will Muschamp, would go on to lose to Virginia in the Belk Bowl to finish the season with a 7-6 mark, while Akron, led by head coach Terry Bowden, wrapped up its season with a 4-8 record.

HISTORY OF THE ZIPS: The team was established in 1891 when the school was known as Buchtel College and later became the University of Akron in 1913. In 1926, the athletic teams were named the Zippers after rubber boots manufactured by the B.F. Goodrich Company, which was headquartered in Akron at the time. The name was shortened to “Zips” in 1950.

MAC ATTACK: The Mid-American Conference is currently made up of a dozen schools. The Gamecocks are 9-3 against teams that currently comprise the MAC, but the game against Akron in 2018 was their first since matchup with a MAC opponent since the 2000 season. Eleven of the previous 12 matchups with MAC opponents were held at Williams-Brice Stadium, with the lone exception being the 1975 Tangerine Bowl in Orlando against Miami (Ohio).

WE’RE ON A ROLL: After dropping three of their first four, with all three losses coming to Miami (Ohio), the Gamecocks have won eight-straight games against MAC opponents in a series of games contested between 1977 and 2018.

YOU’RE NOT WORTHY: The Gamecocks are 43-15 in their last 58 non-conference games, a .741 winning percentage, with eight of the 15 losses in that stretch coming against Clemson. The Gamecocks went 2-2 against non-conference foes in 2023 and are 1-0 in non-conference play this season following a season-opening win over Old Dominion.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE: South Carolina has won 39 of its last 46 home games (.848) against non-conference foes. The Gamecocks have won six of their last seven non-conference home games.

THE POWER OF FOUR: Since the turn of the century, the Gamecocks have a 55-4 mark (.932) against teams not currently in a Power-4 conference. The only four losses in that stretch came to UConn in the 2010 Papajohns.com Bowl, to The Citadel in 2015, to USF in the 2016 Birmingham Bowl and to Appalachian State in 2019. It should be noted that UConn was in the Big East, which was a BCS automatic qualifier during the 2009 season.

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