The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks will meet at 4:15 PM ET on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia in their respective SEC openers. State comes into this contest 2-0 off a convincing win on the road at Minnesota, while the Gamecocks have looked great under new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles in a couple tune up games through two weeks.
This game has a ton of hype surrounding it due to the quarterback matchup. Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor is a dynamic true sophomore that can both run and pass. He took over the Bulldogs offense late last season, going 0-2 in starts against Ole Miss and Wake Forest, but he has started this season in electrifying fashion having accumulated more than 725 total yards while accounting for eight total touchdowns. On the other side is LaNorris Sellers, a more experienced SEC quarterback with similar traits as Taylor, being both a runner and a passer. In fact, Sellers went into last season as a Heisman dark horse, but the Gamecocks severely underperformed after a playoff push in 2024, so many are down on Shane Beamer’s bunch not only this year but in this matchup.
However, I cannot emphasize enough how truly monumental the coordinator change is for this South Carolina offense. Mike Shula was simply a disgrace as a play-caller in 2025, his only season calling plays in Columbia. This year, the Gamecocks have Kendal Briles calling plays, representing one of the biggest, if not the biggest coordinator upgrade in the country at the power-conference level. No, that’s not hyperbolic; Shula was that bad, and Briles is widely regarded as an excellent offensive mind. In turn, we should see more of the 2024 version of Sellers this year than we saw last year, when he had no time to think in the pocket.
The Gamecocks received great news on Wednesday. Stud edge-rusher Dylan Stewart and the highly-regarded offensive line transfer Jacarrius Peak are both probable for this game after missing the two opening weeks. Peak completes the offensive line transformation from last year after the Gamecocks had one of the worst units in the country in that regard. Peak was the highest-rated offensive lineman in the portal this offseason, coming over from NC State, so I’m expecting a much better showing from this bunch ahead of Sellers as competition ramps up.
With South Carolina at full strength, I’m laying it with the Gamecocks. While I agree with Taylor being an excellent quarterback with immense upside, he has neither won a conference game nor started on the road against an SEC opponent yet, so I have to pump the brakes a bit on all the hype ahead of this matchup. This is a very difficult spot for Taylor and the Bulldogs, traveling from a road game in Big Ten country to their first conference road game of the season in consecutive weeks. Not to mention, there’s been a heavy influx of Mississippi State money all week, yet the line has moved toward South Carolina. Ultimately, I’m buying all the shares of this new Briles-Sellers connection early, while I have utmost confidence in Clayton White’s ability as an aggressive defensive coordinator to make life difficult for Taylor. Look for a couple mistakes from the inexperienced quarterback to lead to a Gamecocks win and cover, and keep an eye on that special teams South Carolina special teams unit with Vicari Swain – the Gamecocks new leader in punt return touchdowns.
Mississippi State vs South Carolina best bet: South Carolina -3.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -4 (-115).
