Good morning. Darius Rush’s NFL dreams are coming true as he stole the show with a pick-six in his preseason NFL debut!

🎥 Watch a behind-the-scenes look at Darius’ journey from a small South Carolina town to the bright lights of the big stage with the Gamecocks+ original short film Small Town, Big Dreams: Darius Rush’s Life Calling.

What else is stirred into today’s Brew? ⤵️

🏈 Who we are
🏙️ Windy City debut
🤙 And much, much more

🎥 GAMECOCKS+

All In. Dakereon Joyner is the latest star to join the Gamecock Talk podcast. The standout wide receiver sits down to dish on coming back for another season, why his versatility is one of his biggest assets, and what it’s really like being a new dad.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Who We Are. South Carolina’s first preseason scrimmage is in the books and now Coach Beamer is reflecting on the lessons learned.

“Some really quality work on both sides of the ball. I wanted to really emphasize our younger players today and see, see what they can do. And give them an opportunity to get out there and show if they can have a role this upcoming season or not. And it was good to see a lot of those guys out there flashing today.”

So what’s next in prep for South Carolina?

“Start to hone in on who we are and who we’re going into game one with.”

🔼 Windy City Debut. Darius Rush wasn’t the only Gamecock to turn heads in his preseason debut. Zacch Pickens had himself a game for the Bears, earning mention in The Chicago Tribune’s recap of the five moments that mattered as the Bears took on the Titans.

🔼 Forty On Top. A’ja Wilson’s utter dominance in the WNBA shows no signs of slowing down. Our superstar posted a career-high in the pros last week when she dropped 40 points — yes, 40! — as the Aces downed the Mystics, 113-89.

🔼 Scary To See. We’ve heard from his coaches that Spencer Rattler is ready to take his game to the next level this season, and now we’re hearing it from his teammates, too. Read more about what Trey Knox and Amharean Brown had to say about their quarterback less than three weeks out from a brand-new season.

🤔 GAMECOCK TRIVIA

Countdown: 19. The Gamecocks have opened the season at a neutral site four different times - in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2019. What is the program’s all-time record in neutral site openers?

Think you know? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the right answer!

📬 STICK WITH US

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📬 THE WEEK AHEAD

Thursday 8/17

⚽ Women’s Soccer at Clemson @ 7:00pm ET

Friday 8/18

⚽ Men’s Soccer vs. Wofford (Exhibition) @ 7:00pm ET

Saturday 8/19

🏐 Volleyball at College of Charleston (Exhibition) @ 4:00pm ET

Sunday 8/20

⚽ Women’s Soccer vs. Jacksonville @ 1:00pm ET

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: The Gamecocks are 3-1 in season openers at a neutral site.

🤙 Have a great Monday, y’all.