Spencer Rattler, MarShawn Lloyd defends South Carolina offensive line

South Carolina got their first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Georgia State by three touchdowns at Williams-Brice Stadium. Even so, there have been questions for head coach Shane Beamer after the game — specifically regarding his offensive line. A unit that struggled last year for the Gamecocks, the issues carried over to the season opener.

So much so that two South Carolina players have had to make their voices heard on Twitter. Quarterback Spencer Rattler was one, quote tweeting running back MarShawn Lloyd. Both had to come to the defense of their offensive lines, telling fans to “chill.”

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“Chill on my offensive line,” Lloyd said. “I usually don’t do this, but I’m tired of hearing this about them. Them boys work hard. Don’t be a fan later. We will be straight, I promise you that.”

“Amen! Love them guys. We’ll be just fine,” Rattler said himself.

South Carolina struggled running the ball, with Jaheim Bell being the leading rusher with 36 yards. Lloyd only had 30 but did get into the end zone for a touchdown. Rattler threw two interceptions while being sacked three times. Now, with the early season struggles, Rattler and Lloyd have had to defend their line.

Shane Beamer discusses offensive performance for South Carolina

Head coach Shane Beamer assessed his team’s offensive performance after the game, saying everyone has to improve. He listed most of the position groups, plus the coaches, as people who have to take the blame.

“We all had a hand in it: coaches, quarterbacks, offensive line, running backs, sometimes it’s a quarterback handing the ball off when he should pull it. Sometimes it’s a quarterback got confused on coverage. The interception on the second half, we can talk about throwing the ball a little high over AB’s head but the ball should have been thrown to the slant down on the boundary,” Beamer said.

“The offensive line certainly had their hand in a lot of it. We didn’t do a great job handling their movement. Running back wise, we missed a couple blitz pickups or stayed in to protect when we didn’t need to. Receiver-wise we had some sloppy routes. Receiver-wise we got our butts kicked on the perimeter blocking. Tight end-wise we had some sloppy routes and got our butts kicked on the perimeter. We all had a hand in it.”