Alex Huntley addresses the differences between being hurt vs injured in the SEC

South Carolina defensive lineman Alex Huntley is entering his third season in the SEC, being named to the freshman all-conference team last year. Appearing in all 13 games last season, Huntley now has 14 games of experience after one appearance during his redshirt season. Even so, he knows what it takes to play on a weekly basis.

Being hurt compared to injured is different in the SEC according to Huntley. He said players are going to be hurt during every game, that’s just the nature of football. Not being injured is the key and something Huntley hopes to accomplish this season.

“I’m feeling great right now,” Huntley said. “One thing I learned playing SEC football is, it’s not a battle of whose going to play at 100%. It’s kind of who can play at 85 because all those weeks playing football, especially in the SEC day in and day out — you’re going to get hurt sometimes. You try to stay away from being injured. That’s another thing I’ve learned. You’re always going to be hurt. As long as you’re not injured, you’re okay. Hopefully, I remain blessed and stay non-injured. I’m hoping for a great year right now.”

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South Carolina will play against Georgia State Week 1 but will get right into SEC play right after. Arkansas on the road is the conference opener on Sept. 10 while a home game vs. Georgia is the following weekend. Two of the toughest challenges for Huntley and the Gamecocks will come right away.

Shane Beamer reflects on improvement as head coach

You learn a lot when you make the jump from coordinator to head coach in the college football world. That has been the case with South Carolina’s Shane Beamer after his first season at the helm of the Gamecocks. After an up and down 7-6 season, he’s ready to apply what he learned through the course of his inaugural run to his second go around.

Beamer broke down what he has improved on over his first year as a head coach. He said a lot of it has come through improvements in how he expects the program to run as well as he and the team having a better understanding of the other.

“Probably just an understanding of mistakes I made in practice last year…We’re able to challenge them,” said Beamer. “Having a better understanding of the players on our team. They know me better, I know them better…We had never been through a loss together as a team. They didn’t know how I would react and how I was in the locker room and all that still. I think there’s just a better understanding.”