College football is back and the South Carolina football team is looking to start the year right with a win against Old Dominion at home this Saturday.

Earlier this week, the team released its depth chart, featuring many changes from last season’s starting group. South Carolina added 20 players from the transfer portal and added another 15 freshmen.

LaNorris Sellers earned the starting quarterback job after beating out Auburn transfer Robby Ashford. Sellers has some experience in a Gamecock uniform, playing in the closing minutes of a few games as Spencer Rattler’s backup.

He attempted four passes against Furman, completing all of them for two touchdowns. In three games he’s attempted five rushes, going for 51 yards and a touchdown. It’s a very small sample size against weaker competition, so only time will tell how successful he can be.

Many of the starting offensive skill positions are being filled by incoming transfers from the spring.

The receiving group is very different from last season’s. Nyck Harbor is the only player listed who was also on last season’s depth chart as a receiver. Beamer and his staff completely rebuilt the position group after inconsistency from everyone outside of Xavier Legette last season.

Legette was the only wideout last year to accumulate more than 350 yards for the entire season. He finished with 1,255 yards, while tight end Trey Knox was second with 312 yards.

This season, Sellers will pass to a committee of receivers, including Harbor and incoming transfers Jared Brown, Gage Larvadain and Vandrevius Jacobs.

Lining up behind Sellers at running back will be incoming transfer Rahein “Rocket” Sanders. Sanders won the starting job after overcoming a lingering injury from last season. Sanders’ production was limited last season, but in 2022, he was a staple of Arkansas’ offense, rushing for almost 1,500 yards.

Returning back Juju McDowell will be the backup, providing some consistency at the position from last season.

Vershon Lee and Cason Hery are the two returning starters from the offensive line. That group will look to improve after being a weak point for the team the past few seasons.

Defensively, the Gamecocks first unit will look similar to the team last season with a few exceptions. DQ Smith and Nick Emmanwori return at safety, Tonka Hemmingway, T.J. Sanders and Alex Huntly are back at defensive tackle and Debo Williams will start at linebacker.

The biggest change defensively will be at edge. Kyle Kennard, Gilber Edmond, Jatius Geer and Dylan Stewart are new faces who are expected to make contributions. Bryan Thomas Jr. is also expected to see a lot of action as one of the few returners at the position.

South Carolina will look to set the tone earlier this season after struggling out of the gate last year. In the 2023 season opener, the Gamecocks lost to North Carolina 31-17. The team went on to finish 5-7 and miss a bowl game for the first time in the Beamer era.

The Gamecocks got out to a 2-6 start last season, meaning they needed to win out to qualify for a bowl. The team got close but dropped its final game to rival Clemson 16-7.

The team will look for better results this year, and it all starts in game one. South Carolina can start the year with a win before heading into a challenging conference schedule that sees them play Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and Oklahoma amongst others.

Old Dominion finished 6-7 last season, playing out of the Sun Belt. The Monarchs are a very different team this season,  replacing 16 starters.

This contest will be a good test for both teams to see where they are at before being thrust into conference play. For the Gamecocks in particular, it would be nice to hit the ground running with a road game against SEC foe Kentucky lined up the following week.

The Gamecocks and Monarchs are set to kick off Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4:15 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.