South Carolina is still trying to shake off a disastrous 2025, and an FCS visitor from Maryland looks like exactly the kind of game that should help.
Bush’s Picks
TOWSC
TOWSC
OverUnder
Best BetSouth Carolina
This is about as lopsided a talent gap as you'll find on a schedule, and South Carolina should win comfortably even in a game that doubles as an early-season tune-up. Sellers alone is a mismatch against FCS competition, and there's little reason to expect Towson to hang around deep into the second half.
Towson
+Won last two games of 2025 to finish 6-6
+.500-or-better in CAA in 6 of last 7 years
+Nothing to lose, pure house money spot
−Massive roster and speed gap vs an SEC team
−First-ever meeting, no history to draw on
−Playing on the road against superior talent
South Carolina
+Sellers returns with real Heisman-caliber upside
+New OC Kendal Briles brings fresh scheme
+Home game, deep roster advantage vs FCS foe
−Coming off a 4-8, 1-7 SEC letdown season
−New offensive system still installing early
−Beamer's seat reportedly warmer after 2025
LaNorris Sellers is back under center for a third year, and that alone makes this one worth flipping on. New offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is tasked with unlocking the dual-threat quarterback who once looked like a Heisman frontrunner before an up-and-down 2025, and a home date against an FCS opponent on Saturday, September 12 is exactly the low-pressure environment that new system needs to find its footing before SEC play gets serious.
Towson isn't walking into Williams-Brice Stadium as a total pushover, either. The Tigers closed 2025 by winning their final two games to finish 6-6, part of a stretch that's seen them finish .500 or better in CAA play in 6 of the last 7 seasons. This is also the first-ever meeting between these two programs, so there's zero history to lean on, just a straightforward talent gap between an SEC roster and a CAA one.
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TOW Towson
SC South Carolina
This is South Carolina's second game of the season, sandwiched between the Kent State opener and a September 19 SEC opener against Mississippi State. It's a soft landing spot before conference play ramps up, and for a Gamecocks program still stinging from a 4-8, 1-7 SEC finish in 2025 that put real heat on Shane Beamer, this game is about building the kind of rhythm and confidence that evaporated a year ago.
Towson Tigers
Sep 5?@ Navy—
South Carolina Gamecocks
Sep 5?vs Kent State—
Recent form.
Beamer's 2024 SEC Coach of the Year run feels like a distant memory after last season's collapse, and how the Gamecocks look here will say a lot about whether the Briles hire is already paying off. Sellers has thrown for over 5,000 yards and rushed for nearly 1,000 in his career, and a clean, mistake-free effort against overmatched competition is the kind of confidence-builder this roster needs before the schedule gets real.
Towson Tigers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
South Carolina Gamecocks
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For Towson, the value here is exposure. Facing a Power Conference roster on the road is a chance to find out where a team that's quietly been competitive in the CAA actually stacks up, without much pressure attached since almost nobody expects the Tigers to leave Columbia with a win. A clean four quarters, even in a loss, would build on the momentum from finishing last season on a two-game heater.
