Gamecocks, Southern Miss slated to open 2010 season
By Travis Haney
COLUMBIA -- After some shuffling, South Carolina now knows it will open the 2010 season at home against Southern Miss.
Just as the Gamecocks have done four times in Steve Spurrier's five years at USC, including against North Carolina State two weeks ago, the game will open the college football season on ESPN.
A return game at Williams-Brice Stadium against North Carolina, originally set for next fall, will be played here in 2013.
ESPN wanted the Tar Heels to play Louisiana State in the 2010 Atlanta kickoff classic game, so it came to South Carolina with an offer.
In exchange for taking North Carolina off the 2010 slate, it said it would find a suitable opponent to take UNC's place and allow for the future matchup with the Tar Heels to be a season-opening game on the network.
ESPN found Southern Miss, which will not ask for a return game in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Additionally, ESPN will pay $50,000 of the $900,000 the school will receive for the Sept. 2 game in Columbia.
Former Florida and Oklahoma State assistant Larry Fedora took over the program last season, rallying the Eagles from a 2-6 start to a 7-6 finish that included a New Orleans Bowl victory against East Carolina.
Southern Miss is off to a 2-0 start this season, with Virginia and ranked Kansas coming up.
In addition to the early season schedule, ESPN has said it will help South Carolina restructure the middle part of its 2010 schedule, so that it has an off week earlier than before the regular season finale at Clemson.
That is very important to Spurrier, athletic director Eric Hyman has said. Spurrier wants an open date earlier in the year to rest his players during the middle of the SEC schedule.
The Sept. 4 Troy game, originally the opener, will now be played Nov. 20. The Furman game, originally set for Oct. 2, will be played Sept. 18, when the UNC game was originally to be played.
USC will have its open date Oct. 2. The bye will come between a trip to Auburn and a home date with Alabama.
Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/weblogs/gamecocks.
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