Gamecocks Travel To NC State For Thursday Opener

The University of South Carolina opens its 116th season of intercollegiate football, dating back to 1892, and the 2009 season on the road against the NC State Wolfpack on Thursday, Sept. 3, in front of an ESPN national-television audience at Carter-Finley Stadium. This is the 102nd-consecutive year in which South Carolina has competed on the gridiron. The University did not field a team in either 1893 or 1906. Carolina owns an all-time record of 527-530-44. The 2009 season marks the 40th anniversary of school's only conference championship, which came in the 1969 season when it posted a perfect 6-0 record to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title in Paul Dietzel's 4th year.
• This is the 4th time in 5 years that South Carolina has opened its season with a nationally televised ESPN game on a Thursday night. The Gamecocks are 3-0 in those previous contests, with wins over NC State (2008), Mississippi State (2007) and Central Florida (2005).
• South Carolina is 75-36-4 (.670) all-time in season-openers. The Gamecocks have won 9 openers in a row and 12 out of their last 13. The only loss in that stretch - a 10-0 setback at NC State in 1999.
• Of the Carolina starters in last year's season opener against the Wolfpack, 12 of the 22 are still on the Gamecock roster (6 offense, 6 defense).
• The Gamecocks were picked to finish third in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division for the first time since 2001. The selection snapped a seven-year string of South Carolina being tabbed for the fourth spot in the SEC East.
• Only Clemson (106) and Georgia (61) have faced South Carolina more times than NC State (56). The SEC Rocks!