BATON ROUGE — LSU football opens up Southeastern Conference play in its first true road of the season at South Carolina on Saturday.

The No. 16 Tigers (1-1) will walk into a frenzy as ESPN's College Gameday will visit Columbia for the matchup with the undefeated Gamecocks (2-0) for the first time in 10 years. Kickoff is slated for the moment after the show ends Saturday at 11 a.m. on ABC.

Shane Beamer and South Carolina enter this game with a ton of momentum, having won their SEC opener on the road last week at rival Kentucky in a convincing 31-6 effort.

LSU is coming off an uninspiring 44-21 win over instate FCS foe Nicholls State but junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier did throw for six touchdown passes in the contest.

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LSU football's Will Campbell, Emery Jones Jr. vs South Carolina's Dylan Stewart, Kyle Kennard

The matchup between star LSU offensive tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. against South Carolina's dynamic defensive end duo of freshman sensation Dylan Stewart and senior Kyle Kennard will be appointment television.

Campbell hasn't allowed a sack in more than than two seasons while Stewart through two games in his career has racked up 2.5 sacks, including one against the Wildcats last week.

On the other side, Jones projects to be a low first-round to second-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Kennard started his college year at Georgia Tech before heading to South Carolina as a graduate transfer. Kennard is the team's leaders in sacks with 3.5 through two games.

Whichever tandem gets the better of these matchups will set their respective team up for success.

Which team can establish something in the run game?

LSU and South Carolina need to get something on the ground for different reasons.

The Tigers need either Josh Williams, Kaleb Jackson or even possibly Ju'Juan Johnson to effectively run the ball to get the South Carolina defense to stop rolling back and playing coverage. South Carolina needs Rocket Sanders to find some run lanes so LSU doesn't pin their ears back and focus in on Lanorris Sellers, who has struggled to be effective in throwing the ball so far.

Nussmeier is tied for the lead in college football in passing touchdowns with eight through two games. LSU has been searching for balance since before the season started and that hunt continues. The run game will be vital going forward for the Tigers, who must prevent becoming more predictable.

South Carolina ranks 14th in the SEC rushing yards per game at 126.5 while LSU is dead last at 90.5 yards.

ESPN College Gameday on site for LSU-South Carolina

With a bit of thin slate and some other teams losing unexpectedly over the first two weeks of the season, ESPN decided to bring its banner college football roadshow to Columbia for this matchup.

All time, LSU ranks tied for fifth among teams with the most wins on College Gameday appearances with 21.

LSU football at South Carolina score prediction

South Carolina 18, LSU 15: ESPN bringing College Gameday to Columbia for this game was worst-case scenario for LSU. An already passionate fan base gets up even more thanks to the external fervor and the Tigers struggle get anything going. Gamecocks win on a late field goal to send the crowd inside Williams-Brice Stadium over the edge.

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football at South Carolina: Score prediction, scouting report