National reactions to another South Carolina blowout victory
South Carolina won its third-straight SEC contest on Saturday with a strong showing against the 24th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. In fact, for the third game in a row, the Gamecocks blew out an SEC opponent. The final score in a rain-soaked matchup favored USC 28-7. It also was Carolina’s third SEC road win; in each of those wins, the defense held the opponent to single-digit scoring efforts.
With South Carolina entering the weekend unranked by the AP Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll, and College Football Playoff Rankings, many around the college football world believed Shane Beamer’s team was one of the most underrated groups in the sport. The Nashville shellacking (the 16th win in a row for USC in the series) caused the Gamecock truthers to shout their opinions even louder while simultaneously opening the eyes of some new believers.
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ESPN NFL and college football analyst Dan Orlovsky has been on the South Carolina hype train for a while. However, on Saturday, Orlovsky proposed the idea that the Gamecocks (and Ole Miss Rebels) should get College Football Playoff consideration.
Barstool’s JP Hovey, a noted Gamecock fan, shares Orlovsky’s optimism about his team’s potential postseason future.
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Missouri football game]
Even the Southeastern Conference’s official Twitter/X account hyped up South Carolina following the Cocks’ fourth SEC win of the year with a 21+ margin of victory.
Some ranking systems and power rankings vaulted Shane Beamer’s team up their lists. Michael Bratton of the popular That SEC Podcast now believes USC is a top-6 SEC squad.
Former Georgia Bulldog quarterback and current SEC Network analyst Aaron Murray also has seen enough from the Gamecocks. The SEC’s all-time leading passer thinks Carolina is a top-12 group.
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Sports radio veteran Marc Ryan, who used to cover South Carolina and Clemson for 105.7 The Fan in the Upstate, is coming around on the Gamecocks, something that didn’t happen much when he was in the Palmetto State.
Even Oklahoma Sooners fan and Vanderbilt alum Skip Bayless had to congratulate the Gamecocks…sort of, anyway.
The lopsided win is moving South Carolina closer to reaching a nice bowl game or even the College Football Playoff. However, before those thoughts can start taking shape too much for the Gamecock fanbase, three games remain on the schedule.
Up next, South Carolina football returns home to Williams-Brice Stadium for a home contest against the Missouri Tigers. Plenty will be at stake with those goals still possible and the team looking for its first win against the team from the “other Columbia” since 2018 (the “Michael Scarnecchia Game” in a virtual monsoon). Sure to be played in front of a sold-out crowd, kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and streamed on the ESPN app.
