Shane Beamer addresses whether South Carolina will make offensive line changes
After a poor opening act to the 2023 season, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks offensive line are facing plenty of heat. Addressing the subject du jour in his Tuesday press conference, Beamer said they’ll keep searching for the best group up front because they still haven’t fully settled on it.
The main reason for this has been injuries, as the Gamecocks are dealing with a laundry list of offensive line injuries either from before the opening loss to North Carolina or that occurred during it. Offensive linemen Markee Anderson and Jaylen Nichols didn’t make the trip to Charlotte for the opener and are doubtful for Saturday; Cason Henry, who was hurt early in the opener, is out, Beamer said.
Beamer highlighted the spate of injuries not for comfort, however cold it may be, but to at least explain how South Carolina got to this spot — and why they’ll keep fine tuning. He still expects the group to take hold and find a higher level of play.
“So those guys will be fine, I’ve got total confidence in them. Total confidence in our offensive line coaching, everything. I know everybody right now, they’re the easy targets to criticize the offensive line. Well, get your shots in now is what I would tell people,” Beamer said. “And then when they start playing their ass off as this year goes throughout the season, make sure you’re giving them credit, too, as the year goes on.”
Beamer explained how injuries throughout spring, summer and fall camp made it difficult for South Carolina to build a key aspect for strong offensive line play: Continuity among the five players on the line.
With players in and out for various periods, the group kept shuffling and continuity was hard to come by. It showed up in a big way in the opener, Beamer said.
“It’s been hard, continuity-wise, just to get a solid five. Now we’re rotating guys around and mixing and matching because of that, to develop depth and have been all preseason. But Cason was a guy that was hurt at the beginning of preseason and then he practiced the last however many couple weeks or whatever and then, now he’s hurt again,” Beamer said. “So it’s just tough trying to build continuity across the five and that part’s been tough.”
One way or another, though, Beamer is confident in the talent of the players he has in the offensive line room to make it work.
And he’s hammering home a message that the time is now to make it happen for the offensive line.
‘We told our team on Sunday and I’ve used this expression with you guys before, it is a race to improve. To your point, we don’t have spring practice and the summer and preseason camp, like it’s here, guys. So make sure that you’re doing everything in your power, mentally and physically, when you’re in this building and when you’re outside this building, to get better,” Beamer said.