And with that, it is rivalry week.

South Carolina football defeated Wofford 56-12 in its annual game against FCS competition, a straightforward afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium to set the stage for the biggest game of the season next Saturday.

The win was No. 18 South Carolina’s (8-3) fifth in a row, and the 28th in the last four seasons under Shane Beamer, tying him with Steve Spurrier for the most wins by a South Carolina coach in their first four seasons.

And where better chance to possibly break the record than Clemson next Saturday?

If his Gamecocks are going to do it, though, they are going to have to play a much cleaner and more focused game than Saturday.

Wofford (5-7) quarterback Amari Odom connected with Kyle Watkins on a tunnel screen for a gain of 63 yards on the opening snap, a drive the Terriers eventually got a field goal out of to take the early lead.

South Carolina’s offense was efficient, for sure. It scored touchdowns on three of the final four drives of the first half, mostly had what it wanted in the passing game and dictated terms. But it could not completely pull away, mostly thanks to more of its own self-inflicted wounds.

Half a dozen first-half penalties helped keep the Terriers in the game. A holding penalty took back a 50-yard Dalevon Campbell catch and run touchdown, although Rocket Sanders eventually capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run at the front left pylon. Another holding penalty took back a promising Juju McDowell kick return, a Bryan Thomas Jr. roughing the passer penalty wiped an O’Donnell Fortune interception off the board and a Nick Emmanwori unnecessary roughness penalty helped pave the way for an eventual Wofford touchdown.

The performance was sloppy, disjointed and at times unrecognizable from the previous month.

But just like the last month, when you have LaNorris Sellers, you are usually in decent shape.

Sellers finished 23-of-27 passing with 307 yards and four total touchdowns, responding from an early interception with a nearly flawless performance the rest of the game. He capped off one drive with a quarterback sneak for a score, then led his third successful two-minute drill in as many halves dating back to last week with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Maurice Brown II on the final meaningful snap of the first half.

Touchdown passes to Nyck Harbor and Gage Larvadain to start the second half made it eight scoring tosses for Sellers in the last two weeks, five touchdowns in a six-drive sequence for the Gamecocks and provided more than enough cushion for everyone in the stands to turn their attention to the upstate.

Robby Ashford, Jawarn Howell and Bradley Dunn put the finishing touches on the blowout with fourth quarter rushing touchdowns, and the stage is officially set.

Noon next Saturday, 8-3 South Carolina at 9-2 Clemson in what will be the first ranked match-up in the series since 2013.

It’s that time of year again.

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