South Carolina
South Carolina is 6-3, No. 17 in the CFP rankings, and No. 11 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 18.6 points better than an average FBS team. Last game: won 17-9 vs Texas A&M in Week 10. The machine gives South Carolina a 36% chance to make the playoff.
Week 11: at Arkansas, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit
Why South Carolina is No. 11
- South Carolina's rating is 18.6: the machine's estimate that South Carolina is 18.6 points better than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 11 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
- It started the season at 11.7, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it up 6.9.
- The biggest weekly moves: +4.4 after Week 1 (W 57-0 vs Kent State) and +2.6 after Week 9 (W 42-25 at Oklahoma).
- Its record is 6-3. The 3 losses were to No. 2 Alabama, No. 33 Kentucky, No. 44 Mississippi State, by 13.0 points on average. The 6 wins came by 23.3 points on average; the best was over No. 10 Tennessee. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
- Its FBS opponents so far average No. 33 in the machine's ratings.
- Just above is No. 10 Tennessee (18.6); just below is No. 12 Utah (17.3).
The rating, week by week
Strengths and weak spots
Head coach
Shane Beamer is in his 6th season at South Carolina (since 2021). This season: 6-3. At South Carolina overall: 39-33, counting this season.
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Team stats
Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.
Passing
| Completions-attempts | 185-294 |
|---|---|
| Passing yards | 2224 |
| Touchdowns-interceptions | 18-8 |
| Yards per attempt* | 7.5No. 66 of 138 |
| Explosive pass rate | 9.7%No. 87 of 138 |
| Sacks allowed (rate) | 5.5%No. 71 of 138 |
Rushing
| Carries-yards | 335-1849 |
|---|---|
| Yards per carry | 5.5No. 8 of 138 |
| 10-plus-yard runs (rate) | 17.0%No. 17 of 138 |
| Stuffed at or behind the line (rate) | 14.5%No. 27 of 138 |
Scoring
| Points per game | 34.7No. 24 of 138 |
|---|---|
| Yards per play | 6.57No. 22 of 138 |
| Third-down rate | 46.4%No. 23 of 138 |
| Red-zone TD rate | 74.2%No. 13 of 138 |
| Giveaways | 13No. 102 of 138 |
Defense
| Points allowed per game | 23.4No. 58 of 138 |
|---|---|
| Yards per play allowed | 5.22No. 41 of 138 |
| Yards per pass attempt allowed | 6.9No. 57 of 138 |
| Yards per carry allowed | 3.6No. 39 of 138 |
| Sack rate | 6.9%No. 41 of 138 |
| Takeaways | 6No. 135 of 138 |
| Third-down rate allowed | 39.1%No. 78 of 138 |
Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Player leaders
The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).
Passing
- Lanorris Sellers172-274, 2100 yds, 17 TD, 7 INT
- Cutter Woods11-17, 100 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing
- Lanorris Sellers104 carries, 637 yds, 7 TD
- Matthew Fuller94 carries, 530 yds, 5 TD
- Jabree Coleman55 carries, 309 yds, 4 TD
Receiving
- Mazeo Bennett38 catches, 497 yds, 5 TD
- Nyck Harbor24 catches, 404 yds, 3 TD
- DJ Black17 catches, 347 yds, 2 TD
Tackles
- Fred Johnson70
- Justin Okoronkwo68
- Peyton Williams47
Sacks
- Anthony Addison4
- Tomiwa Durojaiye4
- Caleb Herring2.5
Interceptions
- Justin Okoronkwo1
- Kosci Barnes1
- Peyton Williams1
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Who's playing
Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.
Throwing
- Lanorris SellersMost passes in the last game9 games274 attempts94%
- Cutter Woods4 games17 attempts6%
Carrying
- Matthew Fuller8 games94 carries42%
- Jabree Coleman9 games55 carries25%
- Isaiah Augustave6 games30 carries13%
- Christian Clark4 games19 carries8%
Catching
- Mazeo Bennett9 games38 catches21%
- Nyck Harbor8 games24 catches13%
- Matthew Fuller6 games18 catches10%
- Brady Hunt8 games17 catches9%
Tackling
- Fred Johnson9 games70 tackles12%
- Justin Okoronkwo9 games68 tackles11%
- Peyton Williams9 games47 tackles8%
- Shawn Murphy8 games30 tackles5%
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
The season, week by week
- Week 1 W 57–0 vs Kent State. The run game was the strength: 7.1 yards a carry, 3.4 more than Kent State usually allows. Its most yards a carry of the season.
- Week 2 W 45–9 vs Towson. Towson is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
- Week 3 L 34–41 vs Mississippi State. The pass defense gave ground: Mississippi State got 9.6 yards an attempt, 2.1 over what it usually gains.
- Week 4 L 18–49 at Alabama. The pass defense gave ground: Alabama got 13.5 yards an attempt, 4.8 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
- Week 5 L 34–35 vs Kentucky. The run game was the strength: 6.3 yards a carry, 2.5 more than Kentucky usually allows. The machine had South Carolina by 7.3 (68%), so this was a loss it did not see coming; South Carolina lost the turnover battle by 2.
- Week 6 W 38–19 at Florida. The run game struggled: 3.1 yards a carry, 1.1 less than Florida usually allows. The machine had Florida by 5.4 (64%), so this was a win it did not see coming; South Carolina won the turnover battle by 3.
- Week 8 W 27–24 vs Tennessee. The run defense was the strength: Tennessee got 3.7 yards a carry, 1.2 under what it usually gains. The machine had Tennessee by 1.7 (54%), so this was a win it did not see coming.
- Week 9 W 42–25 at Oklahoma. The passing game was the strength: 11.4 yards an attempt, 5.0 more than Oklahoma usually allows. The machine had Oklahoma by 3.5 (60%), so this was a win it did not see coming; South Carolina lost the turnover battle by 3.
- Week 10 W 17–9 vs Texas A&M. The run defense gave ground: Texas A&M got 4.8 yards a carry, 1.1 over what it usually gains. The most yards a carry it has allowed all season.