On Friday night, South Carolina will compete in what is now a college football rarity: the spring game. As a number of schools — Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Southern Cal and many more — have ditched the tradition, Shane Beamer and South Carolina are leaning into the opportunity to fill Williams-Brice Stadium. To Beamer, it was never a question: Why would he want to deprive fans of the night or not have recruits experience the environment inside Willy-B?
And, so, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Garnet and Black teams will face off in front of tens of thousands of Gamecock fans. Here are five things to know about the spring game. 1. Everyone is going to play — at least for a little bit This is not an all-star game, some fun little exhibition where half the guys don’t play and the other half don’t try. Beamer and his staff preach competition like nutrients in food, and the spring game is no different. Over the past few months, NFL Draft experts — who have likely talked with Beamer or others at South Carolina — tell the story of safety Nick Emmanwori getting taken out late in last year’s spring game and then just putting himself back in.
They want guys to want to win. And, so, expect everyone to play. That includes QB LaNorris Sellers, edge Dylan Stewart, WR Nyck Harbor, whoever. Now, they might only play a half or see limited reps as others rotate through, but don’t think the Gamecocks’ stars are going to be spending Friday in sweats.
2. The teams are drafted As part of trying to make the spring game into a spectacle that gets players juiced up, South Carolina went all out for its draft. You have the head coach of the Black team, director of character Derrick Moore, and the head coach of the Garnet team, director of football operations George Wynn, selecting teams. The entire team will be in the team room while Moore and Wynn are scattered around the football facility. In a radio interview Wednesday on 107.5 The Game, Beamer said that Moore and Wynn will call their draftee, give them the pre-pick pep talk. Back in the team room, commissioner Beamer will call their name, they’ll walk to the front of the room and get a hug and a jersey from Beamer.
3. Trying to make it even Beamer wanted to be very clear about the spring game: What you see is not a reflection of the depth chart. In other words: Just because there’s a wide receiver or tight end lining up with Sellers does not mean that’s a first-team wide receiver or tight end. And when it comes to the offensive line, the coaches will be drafting just one big group of linemen rather than each individually. “We’re going to break up the offensive line where it’s equal,” Beamer said. “Where it’s not necessarily, ‘Here’s your five (top offensive linemen), and then they go with LaNorris.’ We’re going to have just a mix and match.”
In other words: The spring game might not be the best tool for predicting South Carolina’s 2025 starters. 4. First time to see newcomers in action The allure of a spring game is to see guys you’ve only heard of finally play in a South Carolina uniform. This year that includes a number of transfers, guys like QB Air Noland (Ohio State), RB Rahsul Faison (Utah State), CB Brandon Cisse (NC State) and others. But perhaps there’s even more anticipation for this South Carolina freshman class. That includes five wide receivers who have gone through spring ball — Brian Rowe, Jayden Sellers, Jordon Gidron, Lex Cyrus and Malik Clark — as well as QB Cutter Woods, offensive lineman Shedrick Sarratt Jr., safety Kendall Daniels Jr., edge Jaquavious Dodd and others.
