The 2024 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks played their home games at WilliamsâÂÂBrice Stadium located in Columbia, South Carolina, and were led by Shane Beamer, who was in his fourth year as their head coach.
Predicted to only win five games and finish thirteenth in the SEC, South Carolina achieved the eighth nine-win season in program history. The Gamecocks recorded their first 5âÂÂ3 conference record since 2017 and the first of Beamer's tenure. They defeated three conference opponents on the road for the first time since 2011. Shane Beamer broke the record for most wins in the first four seasons by a Gamecock head coach, and he was named the SEC Coach of the Year.
Following a disappointing and controversial first half of the season, which saw close losses to LSU and Alabama as well as a blowout loss to Ole Miss, the Gamecocks won the last six games in the regular season. The four-game SEC winning streak was the first since 2012, while the four ranked wins and three regular season trophies were school records. Two of those trophy wins were decided by late touchdowns. The winning streak earned South Carolina consideration for the College Football Playoff, but they were instead invited to the Citrus Bowl, where they lost to Illinois.
The Gamecocks were led by redshirt freshman quarterback sensation LaNorris Sellers as well as a defense that ranked among the best in the nation and school history. Kyle Kennard won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, honoring him as the top defensive player in college football, and was a finalist for the Lombardi Award. Kennard was a consensus All-American, only the fifth in program history. Dylan Stewart was a finalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. Five defensive players were selected in the following NFL draft, a school record. Following the regular season, Sellers began receiving consideration as one of the best players in the country.
South Carolina and the SEC announced the 2024 football schedule on December 13, 2023. This was the first season South Carolina did not play Georgia since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992, and only the sixth time the two teams did not meet since 1958. South Carolina also hosted College GameDay for the first time since 2014.
In January 2024, despite the program just finishing a 5âÂÂ7 season, South Carolina freshman Dylan Stewart made it clear to his head coach, Shane Beamer, that the team had high expectations for the next postseason. Meeting these expectations would be difficult as the Gamecocks had three losses halfway through the 2024 season, making their inclusion in the newly expanded College Football Playoff unlikely.
However, with South Carolina having more success in the second half of the regular season, they clawed their way into CFP contention. On November 12, following a three-game winning streak and "many national college football analysts [starting] to recognize them as currently playing some of the best ball in the country", the Gamecocks made their debut in the CFP rankings: No. 21 in the second week of the rankings. It was South Carolina's first CFP ranking since 2022, and their earliest-ever appearance in the CFP rankings. ESPN gave South Carolina a 14% chance of making the playoff, but a 47% chance if it won out, saying that the possibility of a three-loss SEC team making the playoff could not be ruled out. Leading up to the final game of the regular season, the Gamecocks continued winning and climbed up to No. 15 in the rankings. ESPN gave South Carolina a 58% chance to make the CFP if they defeated No. 12 Clemson on the road, which they did, finishing the regular season with a 9âÂÂ3 record and six-game winning streak.
Arguments for South Carolina's inclusion in the CFP included: strength of schedule (No. 15 in FBS, higher than Alabama and Ole Miss), 4âÂÂ1 record in "hostile" road games, the one road loss being by only two points, having only two close road games, being arguably one of the country's best teams despite their record, being arguably the country's "hottest" team, four ranked wins, the lack of a "truly ugly" loss, two of the losses being by five combined points to SEC teams, a road win over the ACC champion, wins over teams which beat Alabama and Ole Miss, and the loss to LSU "deserving scrutiny" (due to officiating controversies and the injury of quarterback LaNorris Sellers).
South Carolina was ranked No. 14 in the penultimate rankings, at which point it became clear they were "essentially eliminated". The Gamecocks were ranked No. 15 in the final rankings, and thus did not join the tournament. They were instead invited to the Citrus Bowl, where they lost to Illinois.