South Carolina to play UAB in Gasparilla Bowl
TAMPA, Fla. — Despite its 2-8 record, South Carolina is going bowling in 2020.
Today the SEC announced that 12 teams have accepted bowl game invitation for the postseason, and South Carolina will be playing Dec. 26 against the University of Alabama-Birmingham in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.
This bowl game comes during a time of transition for South Carolina. New head coach Shane Beamer just arrived in Columbia today to assume the role of head coach full-time after finishing the season with Oklahoma in yesterday’s Big 12 championship game.
Beamer hasn’t announced who he will be bringing on staff with him for next season, and it’s unclear which current members of South Carolina’s coaching staff will remain with the team for this bowl game.
The Gamecocks will be facing a UAB Blazers team that finished 6-3 and beat Marshall to win the Conference USA championship, their second in the last three seasons.
This will be the fourth time these two programs meet on the field, with the last coming in 2015 when South Carolina beat UAB 49-6.
Sophomore running back Kevin Harris can add to his 1,138 rushing yards, which is fifth in school history for a single season. Harris led the SEC in rushing yards during the regular season.
South Carolina, one of 12 SEC teams to make a bowl game this season, are making their 24th appearance in a bowl and their 14th in a bowl game in the state of Florida. This will be the first appearance for the Gamecocks in the Gasparilla Bowl.
The Gamecocks and the Blazers will kick off at noon on Dec. 26, the game will be televised on ABC Columbia.
