What South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said four days before facing Notre Dame
The No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-4) and the No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-4) have officially arrived in Jacksonville, Fla., for Friday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to reporters after a Gamecocks practice on Monday.
Here are a few snippets from Beamer’s session, including thoughts on the Irish’s quarterback situation, courtesy of The State’s Ben Portnoy.
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On South Carolina’s tight end situation
“There were four tight ends who played in the Clemson game, and three of them aren’t here right now. To say we’re going to be able to do two-tight end sets is very irresponsible to say. And to think we’re going to play Nate Adkins every play of the game.
“It certainly limits what we can do, if anything, in two-tight end sets because we really don’t have a second tight end. That changes things.”
On Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner
“You go back and see the two games and see he’s a really talented quarterback. Drew Pyne is a really talented quarterback, and they named Tyler the starter to start the season. So that tells you everything you need to know. You see his athleticism and ability to run, so you have to stop the quarterback run. You see the athleticism and ability to pull the football, for sure… He’s a talented guy. You’re not named the starter at Notre Dame if you’re not talented.”
On Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer not playing
“Every year you feel like Notre Dame has a big, prototype tight end. Obviously he was a really productive guy. [He was] a weapon in their passing game they targeted an unbelievable amount of times, so that’s obviously a big loss for them. But they’ve got capable tight ends. We don’t have the bodies right now. They’ve got the bodies at tight end, they just don’t have the experience.”
Notre Dame Football Blue & Gold Illustrated Awards
Two BlueandGold.com writers picked the top three players from the 2022 Fighting Irish roster in each of the following five categories. Some players were picked for multiple awards. The blurbs originally appeared in the January 2022 magazine issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated. Sign up for a subscription or order a single issue here.
• MVPs
