JACKSONVILLE, Alabama — Jacksonville State will face college football's other Gamecocks in 2023, when it will travel to play South Carolina on Nov. 4 in Williams-Brice Stadium.
South Carolina, a member of the Southeastern Conference, announced on Wednesday that it would host the other NCAA school to share its nickname. The matchup will be the first between the two schools on the gridiron and marks the JSU's first game with a Power 5 program after making the move to the Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2023 season.
"This is an exciting opportunity for our football program and our University," JSU Athletics Director Greg Seitz said. "This will be our first game against the SEC after moving up to the FBS and this is the type of opportunity that we envisioned when we decided to make that move. It will be a fun atmosphere for our team and our fans and will be exciting to square off against the other Gamecocks in college football."
USC will be Jacksonville State's first game against a member of the Southeastern Conference since 2016, when JSU played LSU. South Carolina will be the eighth SEC team to host JSU in football.
The 2023 season will be Jacksonville State's first in the FBS and first in Conference USA. The Gamecocks will join Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston as the newest members of C-USA for the 2023-24 academic year.
The game at South Carolina was made possible because of Liberty's move to C-USA with the Gamecocks. While JSU needed to add FBS non-conference games, the Flames needed to clear room on their schedule to accommodate their move from an FBS independent to having to play a conference schedule.