Though they haven’t faced anyone of much merit yet, the 2026 South Carolina Gamecocks are off to a piping-hot start, outscoring their first two opponents 102-9. For a coach in a seat as hot as Shane Beamer’s, that’s a boom worthy of a huge sigh of relief…but not too huge.
That’s right, the first true challenger of the season comes up this weekend as Mississippi State, who’s also 2-0 on the year, struts into Columbia under the leadership of star quarterback Kamario Taylor.
Oh c’mon now, how tough can the Bulldogs be? They’re coming off an eight-loss campaign and have Jeff Lebby in a seat no more desirable than Beamer’s. How could they possibly be some colossal threat to all that’s gone well for South Carolina so far?
Those are the types of questions I’d have normally asked before MSU raided Minneapolis to overtake the Minnesota Golden Gophers—and when I say “overtake,” I mean it to the scariest degree. By entering halftime up 22 before winning by 25, the play-by-play alone could illustrate how easily the Bulldogs controlled their battle with the Gophers from beginning to end, and unless you follow the Gophers, you may not be aware of just how much that dominant performance weighs.
With a knack for stacking up bowl wins and the fact that they just won eight games in 2025, P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota squads have not just been tricky for an opponent or two, but have stood out as a promising depth piece for the Big Ten Conference, similar to how names like Iowa and Illinois have.
With a reputation that solid, it means a lot more than bragging rights when a program of Mississippi State’s recent standard encounters the Golden Gophers on the road and sends such an intimidating message to all upcoming foes.
Speaking of those on the horizon, the gauntlet that follows MSU on the agenda does the Gamecocks no favors, as the minute they get past their clash with the Bulldogs, they have to begin preparations for a trip to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide. From there, it’s back home to host Kentucky before taking on the offensively maniacal Florida Gators in The Swamp; only then will South Carolina get its one and only bye.
So, in summary, Mississippi State doesn’t sound like a team SC should wish to face at all, but when looking at the stretch of misery it’s merely opening for, what it does sound like is a death sentence. Hopefully the vaporizing of Kent State and Towson wasn’t just smoke and mirrors, otherwise the Gamecocks are in for the rudest of awakenings.
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