Gameday Guide: South Carolina vs. Jacksonville State

It’s a battle of the Gamecocks as South Carolina football hosts Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium.

GamecockCentral’s Gameday Guide features game info, TV, odds, notes, and more below!

Jacksonville State (7-2, 5-1 CUSA) @ South Carolina (2-6, 1-5 SEC)

When: Nov. 4, 2023 – Noon ET
Where: Columbia, S.C. – Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559)
Broadcast: ESPNU (Brian Custer, Rod Gilmore, Lauren Sisler)
Local Radio: Gamecock IMG Sports Network (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Chet Tucker)
Satellite Radio: Sirius/XM 158 or 201
Odds: USC -16.5, O/U 54.5
Weather: 62°, Sunny, Chance of rain 0%, Winds 3 mph

Other resources from Gamecock Central: News | App | YouTube | Schedule | Future Opponents | Scholarship Breakdown | Roster | Depth Chart | Commit List

South Carolina vs. Jacksonville State Preview Content

• Carolina Confidential – Final thoughts on South Carolina vs. Jacksonville State
• Insider Report: Previewing Jacksonville State, recruiting
• Staff picks: Jacksonville State at South Carolina, other Week 10 matchups
• Final South Carolina injury report before Jacksonville State
• In-game predictions: South Carolina vs. Jacksonville State
• Four reasons to feel confident about South Carolina football in final month
• Marcus Lattimore on early 2010 South Carolina teams: ‘We were just calculated killers’
• Keys to the game: South Carolina football vs. Jax State
• Debo Williams’ mentality leading the way on the South Carolina defense
• Gamecocks Connection: The mailbag
• Gamecocks make the top five for big-time EDGE prospect
• Gamecock great Marcus Lattimore impressed by Mario Anderson
• Remembering South Carolina’s best wins from 2010-2013
• Three Takeaways: Rich Rod’s scheme still a challenge to this day
• Behind the scenes of Rich Rod’s involvement in USC’s coaching search
• Clayton White, South Carolina defense seeing results with newly-installed packages
• A champion at last: Jordan Montgomery becomes latest former Gamecock to win World Series
• Rich Rodriguez previews South Carolina matchup

How to watch today’s game

The South Carolina Gamecocks and Jacksonville State Gamecocks are set for a Saturday matchup at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia with kickoff scheduled for noon and ESPNU carrying all the action.

ESPNU is available nationwide from every major cable, satellite, and streaming provider but viewers will want to verify that they have a package including the channel since it is not always included with the basic package.

GC LIVE: Gamecocks vs. Jacksonville State Preview

Watch on YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Megaphone | TuneIn Radio | PlayerFM | Stitcher | RSS feed

Quick notes from South Carolina Athletics  

BATTLE OF THE GAMECOCKS: For the first time in history, two college institutions with the nickname “Gamecocks” will battle on the gridiron when South Carolina hosts Jacksonville State.

ABOUT JSU: The next era of Jacksonville State Athletics got underway on July 1, 2023, when the Gamecocks officially became members of Conference USA. Jax State accepted C-USA’s invitation to join the league in November of 2021 and immediately got to work on its application for the league and specifically Football’s Bowl Subdivision. The Gamecocks saw that work come to fruition on July 1, when they joined eight other programs to make up the new-look conference that has been a force in Division I athletics since 1995. C-USA is Jax State’s third Division I conference home after spending 18 years in the Ohio Valley Conference and 10 total years in the ASUN, which was the Gamecocks’ first Div. I conference home from 1995-03 and again from 2021-23.

BEEN HERE, DONE THAT: Jacksonville State will be playing its second game of the 2023 season in the Palmetto State. They went to Conway on Sept. 9 and suffered a 30-16 loss to the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina in a non-conference game.

THEY COME TO SEE CAROLINA PLAY: The South Carolina Gamecocks have played in front of a sold-out stadium six times this season. South Carolina has sold out all three of its home games, drawing 78,281 in the home opener against Furman, 78,311 in the SEC home opener versus Mississippi State, and a season-high 79,247 against Florida in the annual Homecoming game. The Gamecocks rank 15th in the country in average home attendance at 78,613 and have announced a sellout in 10 of its last 11 home games. The Gamecocks also played in front of sold-out crowds of 92,746 at Georgia, 101,915 at Tennessee and 62,621 at Missouri this season. Last week’s attendance of 95,297 at Texas A&M was not a sellout.

IT JUST MEANS MORE: The South Carolina Gamecocks are 41-14 in their last 55 non-conference games, a .745 winning percentage, with seven of the 14 losses in that stretch coming against Clemson. The Gamecocks went 4-1 against non-conference foes in 2022, posting wins over Georgia State, Charlotte, South Carolina State and Clemson and losing to Notre Dame in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. The Gamecocks are 1-1 in non-conference games this season, losing to North Carolina in the season opener in Charlotte, then defeating Furman at home the following week. South Carolina’s fourth and final non-conference game of the 2023 season is set for Nov. 25 in the annual Palmetto Bowl with the Clemson Tigers. That contest is also slated for Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE: Carolina has won 37 of its last 43 home games against non-conference foes. The Gamecocks had put together a school-record 22-straight home game winning streak against non-conference teams before dropping the final two games of the 2015 regular season to The Citadel and Clemson. The Gamecocks were 3-0 in home non-conference games in 2022, posting wins over Georgia State, Charlotte, and South Carolina State. They are 1-0 this season with a win over Furman.

THE POWER OF FIVE: Since the turn of the century, the Gamecocks have a 53-4 mark (.930) against teams not currently in a Power-5 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.

SCHEDULING QUIRK: South Carolina played its final road game of the regular season last week at Texas A&M. The Gamecocks’ final four games will all be played at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia during the month of November. South Carolina is the only school in the FBS to have each of its final four games of the 2023 regular season at home. The Gamecocks will host Jacksonville State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Clemson in the month of November.

BATTLE TESTED: South Carolina and Notre Dame were the only schools that played four ranked opponents through the first eight weeks of the season. The Gamecocks opened the 2023 season with a loss to No. 21 North Carolina before falling at top-ranked Georgia two weeks later. The gauntlet continued with a loss at No. 21 Tennessee to close out September. They also lost at No. 20 Missouri. The eight opponents that Carolina has played are a combined 48-16. Removing games involving FCS teams, South Carolina’s opponents played are 42-14, a .750 winning percentage, the top mark in the FBS. South Carolina is the only team in the country that has 11 of its 12 regular season opponents currently owning a record of .500 or better. Vanderbilt is the only opponent on the slate with a losing mark. Going back to last season, seven of South Carolina’s last 11 opponents were ranked in the AP Top-25 at the time of the game.

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