Last fall, LSU and South Carolina played one of the wildest games of the 2024 season. Momentum swung back and forth, penalties piled up and both fan bases walked away drained.
For LSU, it was a survive-and-advance mentality that followed. For South Carolina, it was heartbreak.
The Gamecocks’ head coach, Shane Beamer, summed it up after the 36-33 loss at home.
“In the end, they made one more play than we did,” Beamer said. “Great group of fighters in that LSU locker room to go down 17-0 on the road and battle back.”
One year later, the rematch feels just as unpredictable.
The Tigers are coming off a bye week after a bruising loss at Ole Miss. That stumble dropped LSU in the polls and put it behind in the SEC standings.
Head coach Brian Kelly has framed the bye week as a chance to reset.
“This game has to be played with complementary football,” Kelly said. “We can’t put our defense on the field for 50 plays in a half. We’ve got to sustain drives. We’ve got to come up with key stops, especially on third down.”
This matchup’s history
South Carolina almost never plays in Baton Rouge. The Gamecocks have only visited Tiger Stadium twice in the past 10 years, including a 2015 game moved from Columbia because of flooding and a 2020 meeting LSU won 52-24.
In fact, this will be just the 24th all-time meeting between the two programs, a surprisingly low number given both schools’ long SEC histories.
History hasn’t been kind to South Carolina: the Gamecocks haven’t beaten LSU since 1994, when they pulled off an 18-17 upset win in Death Valley.
That drought, combined with the rarity of trips to Baton Rouge, makes Saturday’s matchup a chance for South Carolina to finally rewrite a chapter that has been one-sided for three decades.
What South Carolina brings
The Gamecocks entered 2025 ranked No. 13, but six weeks in, they’ve fallen out of the polls after losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri. Instead of chasing the playoffs, they come to Baton Rouge with a chip on their shoulder.
Beamer leaned on that mentality in his press conference this week.
“If you don’t want to play that schedule, you chose the wrong school,” Beamer said. “The bye week came at a great time … needed it from a mental and physical standpoint.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Shula added that South Carolina is “still working toward” a balanced offense, pointing to quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ continued growth and the emergence of freshman running back Matt Fuller, who he said is “getting better every week.”
Recap of 2024 meeting
The last time these two teams met, chaos ruled from the opening whistle.
South Carolina delivered the first punch at Williams-Brice Stadium, blocking a punt and turning it into points on the way to a 17-0 lead. The crowd was roaring as an upset seemed within reach.
LSU finally got a spark from freshman Caden Durham, who rushed for two touchdowns and nearly 100 yards. His bursts gave the Tigers signs of life and quieted the Gamecock faithful.
Sellers left the game late in the first half with an ankle injury. He later returned, but wasn’t the same, and the offense sputtered. Even when South Carolina appeared to land the dagger — a Nick Emmanwori pick-six — the return was wiped away by penalty.
As the game tightened in the fourth quarter, fans moved toward the field-level fences, ready to storm if the Gamecocks held on. Instead, down 36-33 after a late LSU touchdown, Beamer called on Alex Herrera to try a 49-yard kick. The attempt sailed wide left.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen two defensive touchdowns come back because of penalties,” Beamer said that night. “It was disappointing … way too many self-inflicted mistakes … our offense got put into some tough situations obviously with some injuries.”
The bottom line
For LSU, Saturday is about survival and statement all at once. Lose, and the Tigers fall into a hole that could take weeks and near-perfection to climb out of. Win, and the season steadies.
For South Carolina, it’s about spoiling homecoming and possibly proving unranked doesn’t mean irrelevant.
As Beamer said this week, the Gamecocks still see opportunity. As Kelly said, LSU still needs balance.
A year ago, these two teams produced a classic. Don’t be surprised if the sequel is just as wild.
