The strangest season in college football history is coming to a close.

The University of South Carolina is having their worst season since 1999 and will close things out Saturday with Kentucky on the SEC Network.

It will be the 6th consecutive night game for the Gamecocks. Interim head coach Mike Bobo has already announced Luke Doty as the starting quarterback in Lexington, KY. While the offense has certainly gained some energy from the Myrtle Beach freshman, there is still a significant lack of weaponry on the outside.

Wide receiver Shi Smith will more than likely not play on Saturday, leaving the Gamecocks with 2 weapons in Doty and running back Kevin Harris.

Defensively, the injuries, covid-19 issues and opt outs have left South Carolina as a shell of itself. With a 2-7 record, many fans are just hoping to get to the finish line Saturday night.

The attention of the fan base at large has turned its attention to the coaching search which many, including myself, believe to be in the final stages. However, it’s important to keep your eyes on this team this Saturday.

Why is that? Because no matter how difficult the year 2020 has been, no matter how strange this football season has been, we only get so many games per fall.

South Carolina has not been a good football team this season, no one can deny that fact. However, soon the calendar will hit May and college football junkies will be clamoring for the latest preview magazine and news out of summer workouts.

We fill our Saturdays with tasks dreaming of the ones to come in the fall. So this Saturday, as the Gamecocks are in a dog fight with the Wildcats of Kentucky (first to 17 wins), enjoy it. As hard as that might seem, en joy the fact that your university is playing this fall and has played every single game without a postponement.

For 3-4 hours every Saturday, we’ve been able to somewhat escape the daily onslaught of covid-19 numbers and the difficulty of 2020 to just enjoy college football. This season has been one to remember and one to forget for many Gamecock fans. As many also do, I expect the Gamecocks to fall to Kentucky on Saturday night to finish the season 2-8 and holding a 6-game losing streak heading into 2021.

As the clock hits 0:00 Saturday night, a new era of Gamecock football will begin. Fans will rally around a new head coach that will promise to bring winning back to Columbia.

Lexington County Blowfish assistant general manager Justin Hall, radio host Rob Thomas and former University of South Carolina wide receiver Tim Frisby co-host “The 5th Quarter Post-Game Show” following Gamecock games on WVOC (103.5 FM or 560 AM). All South Carolina football games can be heard on WNKT (107.5 FM).