Coachspeak
Here’s a look at what South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer had to say about No. 3 Texas A&M and what Aggie coach Mike Elko said about the Gamecocks this week:
Shane Beamer, South Carolina:
On their Saturday opponent, Texas A&M:
“We’ve played all of the best teams in the country, so we’ve seen it week in and week out. These guys are right at the top when you talk about what they’re able to do in all three phases,” Beamer said. “They’re doing the things it takes to win football games. They’re not beating themselves … I don’t really see a weakness in them. Their record and body of work speaks to that.”
On A&M’s College Football Playoff chances:
“It would be hard to argue that A&M hasn’t done more than any other team in the country, given their win at Notre Dame, three straight road wins in the SEC, who they’ve beaten at home.”
On A&M’s pass rush:
“You’ve got to be ready for all 11 guys to come after you. They’ve got great personnel, and schematically, they know how to beat you. It starts with Coach Elko. He’s a great coach. They play with great effort and great physicality.”
Mike Elko, Texas A&M
On WR Nyck Harbor:
“They’ve got one of the most physically impressive wide receivers I’ve seen in 30 years of college football,” Elko said. “Nyck Harbor’s 6-5, 235. He’s probably going to run 4.27 or faster at the combine. I hope I didn’t insult him … but he can absolutely fly. DBs are running away from him on the snap and he still runs past them. It’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.”
On South Carolina’s schedule:
“This will be their fifth straight game against a team ranked in the top 12 or higher. I can’t imagine that that has happened very often throughout the history of college football. I don’t know what they did to the scheduling gods to get the schedule that they’ve gotten.”
On the Gamecocks:
“A team that is extremely talented, much better than their record would indicate, coming off of a bye week and obviously with a lot of confidence based on what they did to us last year. We’re going to have a tremendous challenge on Saturday and are going to need to come out and play our best football to have a chance to win.”
On South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers:
“I see the same big, physical, athletic kid that ran all over us and threw all over us last year. So I see the same kid, and so our kids better see the same kid because he absolutely lit us up last year. If we want to have any level of success on Saturday, we will do a much better job of understanding what the challenge actually is this year.”
