COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — No. 19 South Carolina is the hottest team in the Southeastern Conference and on one of the most impressive streaks in the country. Can the Gamecocks stay locked in when it comes to Wofford, a six-touchdown underdog?
“I would for mediocre people, I would say it’s human nature” to let the focus wander, South Carolina linebacker Debo Williams said. “But we’re not talking mediocre.”
Lately, the Gamecocks (7-3) have been extraordinary. They have won four straight in SEC play for the first time since Steve Spurrier was coach in 2012 and beaten three straight AP Top 25 opponents — Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Missouri — for the first time ever.
“This is not recent years. This is not a recent team,” Williams said. “We are putting it together and we’ve got to get better every single day.”
That includes, defensive lineman Alex Huntley said, putting in the same work for an FCS foe to prepare as they did for any of those noteworthy SEC victories.
Wofford (5-6) has had its moments, although it has lost 17 straight against the Gamecocks and only once in the past 13 meetings have the Terriers come within single digits of their FBS opponent.
“It’s not about the team, it’s about us,” Huntley said. “So just attack everything the same exact way, don’t change the routine.”
Terriers coach Shawn Watson understands the enormous task his team is facing Saturday in South Carolina. Watson recalled watching Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer at a new conference saying he did not want media to rank his team.
“Because he knew what he had,” Watson said. “They have great chemistry and are probably one of the hottest team, I think the hottest team in college football right now.”
Wofford is an FCS program in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that has built a strong football history the past four decades. The Terriers have been to 10 NCAA playoffs, the last trip coming in 2019.
Watson, in his third season, and the team’s five wins this year equal his total of the previous two. One of the school’s football highlights came in 2007 when the Terriers handed Appalachian State its first loss after the Mountaineers had stunned top-five Michigan weeks earlier.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers has settled into the starting job with his stellar play the second half of the season. He’s passed for 1,010 yards and 10 touchdowns against just one interception in the Gamecocks four straight SEC victories. Last week, Sellers had five TD throws including an inside pass to Raheim Sanders he took 15 yards for the winning score against Missouri with 15 seconds left.
It’s sure to be an emotional time for Beamer as he and the Gamecock crowd say goodbye to the team’s seniors who will be playing a final game at Williams-Brice Stadium. Beamer started tearing up, he acknowledged, when he filmed a video for the occasion earlier this week, in part because several of the players leaving chose to stay when Beamer took over four seasons ago.
Gamecocks senior punter Kai Kroeger leads the SEC and is second nationally with a 47.7-yard average this season. When his football time is done, Kroeger said he wanted to work for the Secret Service or another federal law enforcement agency. Kroeger explained he’d had family friends follow that path and he became interested.
Beamer got a text a few weeks back from Hootie and the Blowfish front-man Darius Rucker about donating to help the university’s band fund their planned trip to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. “It took me five seconds to respond” with a yes, Beamer said as he, Rucker and women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley each donated $25,000 for band expenses.
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