# 2024 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
The 2024 [South Carolina Gamecocks football](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-carolina-gamecocks-football) team represented the [University of South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-south-carolina) in the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS season, finishing 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the [Southeastern Conference](https://www.edgepedia.org/southeastern-conference) under fourth-year head coach Shane Beamer. It was the program's 131st season of intercollegiate football, dating to 1892, and the Gamecocks' most successful year of the Beamer era to that point.[1](https://www.on3.com/teams/south-carolina-gamecocks/news/gameday-guide-south-carolina-at-no-7-alabama/) • [2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record | 9-4 overall, 5-3 SEC; 0-1 in the postseason[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina) |
| Venue splits | 5-2 at home, 4-1 on the road, 2-4 against top-quartile (Quadrant 1) opponents[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina) |
| Scoring | 30.5 points per game on offense (47th nationally), 18.1 allowed (12th), a +12.4 average margin; season totals 396 points scored, 235 allowed[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina) |
| Coach | Shane Beamer, fourth season leading the program[1](https://www.on3.com/teams/south-carolina-gamecocks/news/gameday-guide-south-carolina-at-no-7-alabama/) |
| Rankings | Entered the AP Top 25 at No. 23 in November for the first time since the end of the 2022 season; ranked No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings entering the final week[3](https://apnews.com/article/65039fa25ecd1b2d09789ec61294ad15) • [4](https://apnews.com/article/290f36c33dc40dd7cc059a054037ccef) |
| Final AP rank | No. 19, the program's best final ranking since 2013[5](https://www.collegefootballratings.com/teams/south-carolina) |
| Notable honor | Quarterback LaNorris Sellers was named the 2024 National Freshman Offensive Player of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America[6](https://clemsontigers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCClemson2025.pdf) |
## Season overview
[South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-carolina) opened the year with a nonconference slate of Old Dominion, Akron, and Wofford, while its eight other opponents had combined for a 75-34 record the previous season.[7](https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article283037568.html) The schedule included seven teams that were ranked in the preseason top 20: Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.[1](https://www.on3.com/teams/south-carolina-gamecocks/news/gameday-guide-south-carolina-at-no-7-alabama/)
**A late climb.** For most of the season the Gamecocks hovered outside the rankings, but consecutive wins over ranked Texas A&M and Vanderbilt pushed them into the AP Top 25 at No. 23, their first appearance since the end of the 2022 season.[3](https://apnews.com/article/65039fa25ecd1b2d09789ec61294ad15) From there they kept winning. By the final week of November the [College Football Playoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/college-football-playoff) selection committee ranked them No. 14, just behind [Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mississippi) at No. 13, a position that measured how deep the committee was willing to go into the SEC pool.[4](https://apnews.com/article/290f36c33dc40dd7cc059a054037ccef) The Gamecocks closed the regular season at 9-3 and were positioned for a bowl game.[8](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-charlotte-a3897490-b3e2-11ef-b337-471e8155cea9)
The three losses were narrow enough that local coverage framed the season through them. Writing before the Clemson game, The State newspaper described the year as "full of what-ifs," most revolving around the LSU and Alabama games.[9](https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article296041584.html) The advanced record shows the same shape: the team went 2-4 against top-quartile opponents but won every game against Quadrants 2 through 4.[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina)
## The Palmetto Bowl and the playoff debate
The regular-season finale carried postseason stakes for both sides. On November 30, 2024, the No. 12 [Clemson Tigers](https://www.edgepedia.org/clemson-tigers) hosted the No. 16/14 Gamecocks at Memorial Stadium in Clemson in the 121st meeting of the in-state rivals, with both teams holding at-large hopes for the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. With Clemson at 9-2 and South Carolina at 8-3, the teams' 17 combined wins were tied for the fifth-most entering the rivalry game in series history, and it was only the fourth time both squads were ranked in the AP top 16.[10](https://clemsontigers.com/fbgameday24-scar/)
South Carolina won and finished 9-3,[8](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-charlotte-a3897490-b3e2-11ef-b337-471e8155cea9) but it was not enough for a playoff berth. When the first 12-team field was revealed on December 8, SMU beat out Alabama for the 12th and final spot, and the Gamecocks were left out of the bracket entirely.[11](https://apnews.com/article/688e8c645284d8887a06ea806874815f) The result fed a broader argument over how the committee weighed head-to-head results among three-loss SEC teams; during the December rankings, observers noted that South Carolina, Alabama, and Ole Miss sat closely together while the committee placed Ole Miss and South Carolina 13th and 14th.[4](https://apnews.com/article/290f36c33dc40dd7cc059a054037ccef) • [11](https://apnews.com/article/688e8c645284d8887a06ea806874815f) A week earlier the selection committee had placed South Carolina at No. 21 in its rankings while the AP poll had it No. 23.[12](https://cfbtrack.com/teams/2579-south-carolina/ap-cfp-ranking-differences)
The season ended 9-4 after a bowl loss, the team's only neutral-site defeat of the year.[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina)
## By the numbers
The team's identity was defense and late-game scoring. Defensive coordinator Clayton White's unit allowed 18.1 points per game, 12th among Division I teams, while the offense at 30.5 points per game ranked 47th.[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina) Scoring by quarter shows where the wins came: the Gamecocks scored 91 points in the first quarter, 104 in the second, 76 in the third, and 125 in the fourth, so nearly a third of the season's points came in the final period, while opponents were held to 58 fourth-quarter points.[2](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina)
Quarterback [LaNorris Sellers](https://www.edgepedia.org/lanorris-sellers) emerged from the season with national recognition, selected as the 2024 National Freshman Offensive Player of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America.[6](https://clemsontigers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCClemson2025.pdf) The season's success came at a roster cost: the following offseason, five Gamecocks went in the first four rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the team graduated its top four interior defensive linemen from the 2024 squad.[13](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/olemisssports.com/documents/2025/10/27/25USC_OleMissNotes.pdf?timestamp=20251027072202)
## Place in program history
Beamer's first three seasons had produced records of 7-6, 8-5, and 5-7; the 9-4 finish of 2024 was his best, and the +13.7 rating (17th nationally) assigned to the 2024 team by CollegeFootballRatings was the best season rating in the program's tabulated history.[5](https://www.collegefootballratings.com/teams/south-carolina) The No. 19 final AP ranking was the program's best since 2013, when [Steve Spurrier](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-spurrier)'s team finished No. 4; the only final ranking between those years was 2022's No. 23.[5](https://www.collegefootballratings.com/teams/south-carolina) South Carolina's record against Clemson now stood within the all-time series that Clemson led 73-43-4 before the 2024 meeting.[10](https://clemsontigers.com/fbgameday24-scar/)
## References
1. [Gameday Guide: South Carolina at No. 7 Alabama, On3](https://www.on3.com/teams/south-carolina-gamecocks/news/gameday-guide-south-carolina-at-no-7-alabama/)
2. [2024 South Carolina Gamecocks Advanced Stats, WarrenNolan.com](https://www.warrennolan.com/fbs/2024/team-advanced?team=South-Carolina)
3. [AP Top 25: Oregon remains No. 1 as Big Ten grabs 4 of top 5 spots; Georgia, Miami out of top 10, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/65039fa25ecd1b2d09789ec61294ad15)
4. [Miami's playoff hopes nosedive as Alabama rises in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/290f36c33dc40dd7cc059a054037ccef)
5. [South Carolina Program History, CollegeFootballRatings](https://www.collegefootballratings.com/teams/south-carolina)
6. [South Carolina at Clemson 2025 game notes, Clemson Tigers Athletics](https://clemsontigers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SCClemson2025.pdf)
7. [South Carolina football: Thoughts on 2024 schedule of games, The State](https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article283037568.html)
8. [Axios Charlotte newsletter, December 2024](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-charlotte-a3897490-b3e2-11ef-b337-471e8155cea9)
9. [Biggest USC-Clemson game in years coming up on Saturday, The State](https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article296041584.html)
10. [Gameday Guide: Football vs. South Carolina, Nov. 30, 2024, Clemson University Athletics](https://clemsontigers.com/fbgameday24-scar/)
11. [College Football Playoff: Who has the best odds to win the title?, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/688e8c645284d8887a06ea806874815f)
12. [South Carolina AP versus CFP ranking differences, CFBTrack](https://cfbtrack.com/teams/2579-south-carolina/ap-cfp-ranking-differences)
13. [2025 South Carolina at Ole Miss game notes, Ole Miss Athletics](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/olemisssports.com/documents/2025/10/27/25USC_OleMissNotes.pdf?timestamp=20251027072202)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Rugby and other football codes › College, minor, and international American football › College football seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license