CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables just can’t forget what happened against South Carolina a year ago.
The Tigers had one of their worst defensive performances...
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Very little has gone according to plan early on at South Carolina. And now the Gamecocks are facing a new reality — along with a new face at quarterback in backup Ryan...
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley will have season-ending surgery on his fractured left foot.
Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp announced Bentley's decision Sunday....
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina fans gave quarterback Ryan Hilinski even more love than a second string QB typically gets in his first start and the freshman with the inspiring backstory...
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It's been a challenging week for South Carolina and Charleston Southern.
The Gamecocks have had to deal with the loss of starting quarterback Jake Bentley, out for at...
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has a foot injury that could sideline him all season.
Coach Will Muschamp said Tuesday that Bentley hurt himself on the final...
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina starting quarterback Jake Bentley will be out indefinitely with a broken foot, a person close to football program told The Associated Press on...
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The challenges are different for South Carolina coach Will Muschamp and North Carolina coach Mack Brown entering their season opener this weekend.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Will Muschamp believes he's got the strongest, deepest and most talented team in his four seasons as the Gamecocks' coach.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on SEC media days (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Will Muschamp believes this will be his best South Carolina team.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jake Bentley threw for 510 yards and five touchdowns against No. 2-ranked Clemson last month, so don't expect the South Carolina quarterback to be afraid of anyone — even though his best wide receiver won't play Saturday against Virginia in the Belk Bowl.
Bentley said South Carolina's offense has a "never scared mentality."
Belk Bowl: South Carolina (7-5) vs. Virginia (7-5) at Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday, noon EST (ABC)
Line: South Carolina by 5
Series Record: South Carolina leads 20-13-1
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The Gamecocks make their third straight bowl game appearance. They beat Michigan 26-19 in the Outback Bowl last season. The Cavaliers look to avenge last year's 49-7 loss to Navy in the Military Bowl.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley believes the Gamecocks made progress during the regular season. He can't wait to see that continue against Virginia at the Belk Bowl.
"A bowl win would be icing on the cake," Bentley said Thursday.
Virginia (7-5, Atlantic Coast Conference) vs. South Carolina (7-5, Southeastern Conference), Dec. 29, noon EST.
LOCATION: Charlotte, North Carolina
TOP PLAYERS
South Carolina: QB Jake Bentley, 2,953 yards passing, 27 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. WR Deebo Samuel has 11 for the Gamecocks' 32 receiving TDs.
Virginia: QB Bryce Perkins, 2,472 yards and 22 TDs passing; another 842 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. DB Bryce Hall leads the nation with 20 pass breakups.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Deebo Samuel figured out another way to score a touchdown as he wrapped up his injury-cursed career at South Carolina in a rainy, messy makeup game.
Samuel recovered a bad snap on a punt in the end zone and caught two touchdown passes as the Gamecocks (7-5) beat Akron 28-3 on Saturday.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Both South Carolina's Jake Bentley and Clemson's Trevor Lawrence hope to make their first winning impact on the Palmetto State rivalry.
Bentley, a junior, has started the past two games against Clemson — both demoralizing losses where the Gamecocks (6-4) were badly overmatched and lost by a combined 90-17 margin.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Quarterback Jake Bentley chatted with one of his favorite targets in receiver Deebo Samuel, honored on Senior Night who reflected on how much he'd miss playing at South Carolina.
"I told him in winning this game, we'd have a little bit more time together," Bentley said.
Bentley threw for 339 yards and tied his career best with four touchdowns as the Gamecocks became bowl eligible with a 49-9 victory over Chattanooga on Saturday night.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina has finally won consecutive games this year, something the Gamecocks believe has given them a jolt of confidence that will help them the rest of the season.
"It's all a confidence thing," quarterback Jake Bentley said. "Confidence in the game plan, confidence in what we're starting off with. You can definitely see that."
South Carolina (5-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) hopes to have a similarly strong performance against No. 19 Florida (6-3, 4-3).
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jake Bentley passed for two touchdowns and scored the
game-winning touchdown on a 4-yard run with 5:50 left to lift South
Carolina to a 48-44 comeback win over Mississippi on Saturday.
South Carolina (5-3, 4-3) erased a 44-34 deficit in the fourth quarter to
win consecutive games for the first time this season. The Gamecocks
covered 47 and 73 yards in fourth-quarter scoring drives, capped by a
3-yard run from A. J. Turner and Bentley's decisive score, respectively.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley can't understand why he and the Gamecocks start so slow and finish so strong.
He's just glad they do.
"It's just the resiliency of this team, that we're going to keep fighting," Bentley said Tuesday.
South Carolina (4-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) hopes to get off to a quicker start this Saturday at Mississippi (5-3, 1-3).
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Jake Bentley lay on the field after a hard hit on his game-tying two-point conversion in the second half.
Despite feeling like he "got hit by a boulder" and taking a few moments to recover, Bentley knew he wasn't done — and neither was South Carolina.
Bentley threw for 152 yards and a touchdown and the Gamecocks stopped Tennessee on downs twice in the final quarter to rally from 12-points down to beat the Vols 27-24 on Saturday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina hoped to be facing more positive challenges during its off week, not correcting problems the coaching staff believed had been already fixed before the season began.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond and South Carolina signal-caller Jake Bentley know they've got room to improve midway through their seasons.
When the 22nd-ranked Aggies play at the Gamecocks on Saturday, the game could tell a lot about which one takes a step forward.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina got some good news about its quarterback situation with Jake Bentley expected to return as the Gamcocks' starter against No. 22 Texas A&M after missing last week with a left knee injury.
Coach Will Muschamp said Tuesday that Bentley has moved well, looked strong and, unless there's a setback, will play Saturday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Quarterback Michael Scarnecchia spent years dreaming of starting at South Carolina, until he learned about things even bigger than his wishes.
That's what made the Gamecocks senior, making his first college start, so pleased with his performance against Missouri on Saturday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's offense was supposed to be a highly efficient, quick moving machine this season.
Instead, the Gamecocks' attack has been sluggish in South Carolina's two biggest Southeastern Conference games so far. Everyone agrees the Gamecocks need to quickly find their offensive rhythm to turn the season around.
"We just have to make the plays that come to us," Gamecocks receiver Deebo Samuel said Tuesday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — For one half, No. 17 Kentucky's offense showed the intensity that helped earn its first Top 25 in nearly 11 years. When things sputtered afterward against South Carolina, the Wildcats' defense rose to the challenge with clutch plays to ensure their new-found status ended on a high note.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason talked about needing to be ready for a street fight when his Commodores played South Carolina.
Well, the Gamecocks took that very personally.
Jake Bentley threw for 261 yards and a touchdown, and the South Carolina Gamecocks bounced back from their hurricane-forced break, routing Vanderbilt 37-14 Saturday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has an additional job this week.
While preparing for South Carolina's upcoming game against Marshall, Bentley is making sure teammates have put last week's loss to Georgia behind them.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley is excited about his team's new, fast-paced offense. He believes the 24th-ranked Gamecocks will be able to move the ball effectively this week against No. 3 Georgia.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina talked all offseason about going faster and displaying a new speed on offense.
It was only one game, against a team that is just more than a year removed from playing its first season in the FBS, but the Gamecocks' 49-15 victory over Coastal Carolina Saturday left no doubt that South Carolina can achieve its goal.
Jake Bentley threw for four touchdowns, Rico Dowdle scored twice and South Carolina had six different players reach the end zone.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has seen — and heard — first hand of the Gamecocks improvement on defense.
Bentley chuckled and shook his head when asked about facing coordinator Travaris Robinson's defense this summer in preseason camp.
"It's fun because it makes you better," Bentley said Tuesday. "But some days they get you and T-Rob (Robinson) lets you know about it. That's not fun."
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina quarterbacks coach Dan Werner keeps searching for flaws, shortcomings or things to fix with Gamecocks starter Jake Bentley.
So far, the long-time coach hasn't found anything to complain about — yet.
"There are no negatives," said Werner, in his first year at South Carolina. "He comes to work every day wanting to be a leader, wanting to work hard, just begging for information. He's always the first one there, the last one to leave.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Will Muschamp envisions championships in South Carolina's future.
Lots of them.
"We don't have all the trophies and the tradition and history but we have some grit," the coach said after the Gamecocks rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit. to beat Michigan 26-19 in Monday's Outback Bowl.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Jake Bentley and Clemson's Kelly Bryant are quarterbacks eager their teams to victory in the Palmetto State's biggest rivalry.
One will walk from Saturday night's matchup disappointed.
Bentley will make his second start for the Gamecocks (8-3) against No. 4 Clemson (10-1, No. 3 College Football Playoff), anxious to redeem himself and his team after last year's disastrous 56-7 embarrassment.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In a season of one dominant team and a bunch of disappointments in the SEC East, resilient South Carolina figured out another way to win, overcoming four turnovers to beat Florida 28-20 on Saturday and reach heights the Gamecocks have rarely achieved.
South Carolina (7-3, 5-3 Southeastern) can't win what would have been only been its second SEC East title. But the Gamecocks will finish with only its eighth winning SEC record in 26 seasons in the league.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's biggest job this week is ignoring Florida's free fall.
The Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) look to finish with a winning SEC record for the first time since 2013 when they take on the Gators (3-5, 3-4) on Saturday. South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has watched the film, sometimes in amazement, of Florida's past two games, in which the Gators gave up more than 40 points in consecutive losses to Georgia and Missouri.