This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/southcarolina as Can The South Carolina Gamecocks Make a Bowl Game?.

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks and Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders meet Wednesday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Gamecocks had Alabama on the ropes but couldn’t deliver the knockout. Shane Beamer’s football teams have usually been very good at finishing with late leads

Jacksonville State will come out of a bye week on Wednesday and begin its stretch of five Conference USA matchups a few hours north.

The South Carolina Gamecocks fell short of an upset over the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide in a 29-22 defeat at Williams-Brice Stadium this Saturday. Offensive miscues caught up to the team in a game that slipped away at the end of the fourth quarter.

The Gamecock offense took the field first. LaNorris Sellers and company got off rolling after picking up multiple first downs through the air and on the ground. Their efforts led them to the Alabama six yard line,

“We’re behind him 100 percent, and that’s just been my message to him,” Donati continued. “’Keep fighting the good fight every day.’ He’s a tremendous leader of young men. He’s got a great message, great energy. And we need that.”

South Carolina's men's basketball team fell to NC State in an exhibition game on Oct. 26 in Greensboro, N.C., in its final tuneup before beginning the season.

No. 2/2 South Carolina women’s basketball was solid Friday night, defeating the Anderson Trojans 112-31 in an exhibition matchup at Colonial Life Arena.

Lexington High’s Karley Shelton skipped her senior softball season in 2024 and enrolled with the Gamecocks. Shelton played in 50 games during her college freshman season. On the football side, Irmo’s Donovan Murph and Ridge View’s Jordon Gidron did the same thing and are freshmen on the Gamecocks football team this year.

Wade was the first to admit that NC State still has a ways to go. Most exhibition games across the country are high-scoring, offense-focused bouts where teams discover who might be more of a factor than initially expected. The Pack learned a lot about itself in a matchup against another power conference program.