Gamecock fans will get a reprieve of sorts from the Labor Day weekend heat as USC opens the 2022 football season at home and under the lights. On Thursday, the SEC released the start times for Carolina’s first three football games and the season opener with Georgia State will kickoff at 7:30pm. USC will play at noon the next two weeks, both against SEC opponents. First on September 10th at Arkansas before returning to Columbia to host defending national champion Georgia on September 17th.
USC Release:
Game times and television networks have been announced for the first three games of the South Carolina Gamecocks’ 2022 football season, the Southeastern Conference office announced today.
South Carolina will open the second season of the Shane Beamer era in Columbia under the new LED lights at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3, when the Gamecocks host the Georgia State Panthers. Game time has been set for 7:30 pm ET and the contest will be streamed live on ESPN+/SECN+. This will mark the first gridiron contest between South Carolina and Georgia State. The Panthers, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference, are coached by former Gamecock assistant and interim head coach Shawn Elliott. They are coming of an 8-5 season in 2021, including a 6-2 mark in the Sun Belt and a Taxact Camellia Bowl win over Ball State.
The Gamecocks’ 2022 SEC opener is set for Saturday, Sept. 10, when Carolina travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. ESPN will have the national broadcast beginning at noon ET (11 am local). Arkansas leads the all-time series by a 13-10 margin, but South Carolina has won the last three contests, including a 48-22 win in 2017, the last time the teams met. The Gamecocks were 52-7 winners in 2013, the last time they got together in Fayetteville. The Hogs posted a 9-4 record in 2021, including a 4-4 mark in the SEC West, under second-year head coach Sam Pittman, and finished the season with a win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl.
The annual border war between SEC Eastern Division rivals South Carolina and Georgia will take place in Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 17. Game has been set for noon ET, with the contest being televised nationally on ESPN. Georgia, the defending national champions, posted a 40-13 win over South Carolina last year in Athens to improve its advantage to 53-19-2 in the all-time series. The Bulldogs, under head coach Kirby Smart, posted a 14-1 record in 2021, including a perfect 8-0 mark in capturing the SEC East. The Gamecocks’ last win in the series was a 20-17 double-overtime decision in Athens in 2019.
The Gamecocks return 49 letterwinners from last year’s squad that posted a 7-6 campaign in Coach Beamer’s first season at the helm, including a convincing 38-21 win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
