Everything Shane Beamer said about Texas A&M loss during Sunday teleconference

One day after South Carolina’s 31-30 loss to Texas A&M, head coach Shane Beamer met with the media during his Sunday night teleconference. 

Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“Players that played well offensively, Jawarn Howell and Nyck Harbor. Like the way that they got in, or like the way that Jawarn Howell got in. He really has been practicing well. Practice matters around here. Jawarn’s a talented guy. He got in, did some really good things for us yesterday from a blocking standpoint and running the ball. And then Nyck Harbor, certainly. Defensively. Fred Johnson and Nick Barrett were two standouts for us. And then on special teams, Cole Rasmussen, our snapper, and William Joyce. William did a great job. That was the windiest game we’ve played in, and certainly did not affect William at all. Made some pressure kicks. And that’s why I had plenty of confidence that when we had 2nd and 1, I think, on the 40-yard line with two minutes left in the game and a timeout left that we were going to get the 20-25 yards we needed, and we were going to go kick the game-winning field goal. Disappointed that it didn’t happen.

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“There was so much really, really good yesterday. You look at our defense, our ability to stop the run. A&M had gone over 100 yards in every game this year from a rushing standpoint, and they had -11 at halftime, and they didn’t do much more in the second half. Defensively, we gave up way too many explosive plays, certainly in the second half. Offensively, we had 14 explosives, run and pass, and that’s certainly more than we’ve had in any game this year, and more than we’ve had in multiple games combined, I’m sure. Solid protection overall, for the most part, till the end of the game, when we were in a drop-back mode and had to throw. And then zero pre-snap penalties from a functionality standpoint, which I don’t take for granted in that environment. That was a loud environment against really good defense. So really proud of our players.

“You look at the last time we were in a hostile environment like that, it was at LSU, and it was a different story from a pre-snap standpoint. So, really like the way that our guys performed there. So much really, really good. And we showed in the first half the team that we, in my mind, are in so many ways, but just haven’t been consistently that team, and we showed how close we are. I’ve been on the phone with a bunch of recruits this afternoon. Not to predict games, but say there’s a pretty strong likelihood that Alabama and Texas A&M are going to play for the SEC Championship. And we led both of those teams going into the fourth quarter. We were in the game, certainly, with those guys going into the fourth quarter, for sure on that one. So we just got to continue to work, which is what we’re going to do.

“I feel like our culture was on display yesterday. A team that wasn’t together like we are and wasn’t playing for one another like we are would not have performed like that yesterday, or the Alabama game coming off the Oklahoma disappointment, or in the Missouri game coming off the Vandy disappointment. Again, we’re not in the moral victories and patting ourselves on the back. We expected to win that game, but it’s a team that loves one another and continues to compete for one another and play for one another. And we will. We’re getting right back to work here in about 20 minutes on the practice field, and today certainly has not been an easy day. That was not an easy trip back yesterday because of the hurt and disappointment, and not an easy day today coming in here and watching the tape. As always, we’re very honest and very raw with our guys about what happened and trying to fix it and get better.

“It reminded me, it’s crazy. Two of my most recent games in Texas were yesterday, where we blew 30-3 lead. And then when I was at Oklahoma, we went down and played Baylor one night. College GameDay was there, both teams were nationally ranked, and we were down 28-3 in the first half. Jalen Hurts, Ceedee Lamb, and Creed Humphrey led us back to victory, and we won that game. So I’ve been on both sides of it, and both very emotional games. So something about the state of Texas, I guess. But really disappointed, but we’ve got to continue to do a great job. We’ve got to do a great job of getting our players back, which we know they will. They’ll be excited to go play this week against Coastal Carolina in Williams-Brice Stadium. Eager to get back to work, and we’ve got another opportunity to go compete again.

“Health-wise, the two that we were most concerned about coming out of yesterday, Nyck Harbor and Brandon Cisse. We’ll see how the week goes on for both those guys. Nyck did spend the night in College Station. I talked to him last night when we landed back in Columbia, and he was in good spirits when I talked to him last night, and he is back in Columbia now. He spent the night and flew back this morning from College Station and is back in the building right now. So proud of him. Hate that he went through that, but glad he’s back here and glad everything is okay.”

You mentioned yesterday that when you watch the tape, you were just going to see so many missed opportunities. What was the biggest miss after watching that film?

“It would be hard to pick just one. I mean, there’s missed opportunities on special teams in the return game and the block game that I feel like could have been game-changing plays. There’s plays offensively in the past game and run game that could be game-changing plays. There’s plays defensively, whether it be we’re a half-yard or whatever, half-step away from hitting the quarterback and probably causing a fumble or a half-step away from an interception. There’s a lot like that. So there’s a lot of missed opportunities. It would be hard for me to name just one.”

During your time at South Carolina, your teams have always either been in a bowl game or had a chance to play to go to one heading into the final game of the year. It’s a different time and era now in college football, so how do you make sure your guys are just motivated to continue to go out there and play, even though, besides the Clemson game, there’s not a bowl game to play for at season’s end

“Competition is a core value of our program, and like I said to you guys yesterday in the press conference, don’t be a fraud. That’s a core value of our program, during the good times and the bad times is to compete, and we get an opportunity to go compete. We’re not playing in the College Football Playoff, but we’ve basically got a state playoff coming up here over these next two weeks. So that’s the way we’re focusing on. I know our guys, we’ve got 13 days together left as a team. We’re going to make the most out of these next 13 days. People can watch us and be disappointed with the way that we are not winning games right now and not finishing games, but not once this season would I say that anybody could watch our tape and question the effort and the want to by our players. Has it always been pretty? No, and I understand that, but don’t think that the next two Saturdays will be any different. We get to go compete together as a team over these next two weeks, and we don’t take that for granted.”

What did Jawarn Howell do in practice to necessitate more playing time? And additionally, why didn’t he have any more touches after the second quarter?

“One in practice, just being productive, protection-wise, route running, running the ball. He really works hard at being a good running back. And there’s a lot that goes into it, a lot of details in the run game, in the past game, and he’s really worked hard on the practice field. Off the practice field, he’s a great young man that is continuing to gain confidence. We’ve got a really good group of running backs, and we’re trying to rotate different guys in. We had different personnel packages yesterday. We did some two-back stuff. We did some one-back stuff. A lot of it was personnel dictated who we had in the game based on what we call, and then some of that certainly plays when he and other running backs were in the game, you know, RPOs that LaNorris pulled and did something else with the ball, sometimes, outside of handing the ball to them.”

What are your impressions of the first game with Mike Furrey calling plays?

“Yeah, I thought he did a great job. Scored 30 points in the first half. Kudos to our defense for creating some turnovers. Would have liked to have converted a lot of those field goals in the red zone into touchdowns, but thought Mike and the offensive staff put together a great plan. Thought it was very good from a mechanical standpoint. Like I said, no pre-snap penalties, and we operated efficiently. They had a great plan of how we wanted to attack A&M, and they went out and did that. Just like our players, they wish they had some plays back, particularly in the second half. Certainly, all of our coaches wishes, you know, they all Clayton (White), Joe D, myself, Mike, all look back, like after every game, win or lose, and wish you had some calls back. But Mike and the whole staff did a nice job.”

You mentioned last night that you feel like LaNorris Sellers gives you guys the best chance to win, but you also said the protection at the end kind of held up. How do you talk to him right now, just about going forward with how he can get better? It just feels like there are more inconsistencies this season.

“Yeah, each week we just try and give our guys the best chance to be successful, and that’s every individual and every player offensively, defensively, and special teams. Each week is different. You come back in and you go back to fundamentals, which we do every week at every position, and look at the tape and things we did well, things we didn’t do well, and then what are we going to try and get better at that week? So that’s with LaNorris, and that’s any player on our team.”

With you guys being at home the next two weeks, will Travian Robertson be able to do more of that on-field work he did in practice last week? Would you possibly see him on the sideline for the home games?

“Yeah, I’d love to if he was able to. He did come out to practice. He started out where he was watching practice from the second-floor balcony outside of our coaches’ offices. Then that led to being able to come out for 20 or 30 minutes and sit on the golf cart and watch a little bit from a distance. And then last week, it turned into he was actually able to stand and move around a little bit on the practice field for a short period of time during individual and whatnot, what he was able to do. I told him last week, if he felt like he could go to College Station, we’d love for him to go. He didn’t feel like he could. Doctors weren’t quite ready to let him travel and do that quite yet. But I’m sure, you know, he’s a competitor, and he wants to get back out there. So whatever he feels capable of doing, I’m all for, but also want to be smart and make sure we’re doing what’s best for him going forward.”

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What went into the decision to have Shed Sarratt over right tackle, and how did you guys feel like he held up in that new spot yesterday?

“Once again, he’s practiced really well. Proud of Shed, a guy that’s coming in as a true freshman and has played guard and really both tackle positions for us in practice. So practice matters, competition matters, and Shed has practiced well, and I thought he did a great job to go into that environment as a true freshman against that D-line. Pretty freaking good.”

Following up on that, when you’ve got a guy who’s that young and is playing that much, how do you plan an approach for saying this guy’s playing guard, and then also say, let’s get him some work at tackle and kind of balance that?

“I think you want to cross-train as many guys as you can; the more you can do, the better. Look at Vershon Lee. When he was here, Vershon played center, played guard, played tackle, and that led to him being on an NFL roster. So the more you can do, the better. You don’t want to minimize or limit what a guy could do because he’s thinking too much. But you try and teach conceptually, and it’s certainly different. I mean, playing tackle is different than playing guard, but you understand what you’re doing conceptually, run game-wise and pass game-wise, it’s doable. Shed’s very smart and very steady and consistent.”

How do you feel like you managed that game yesterday, especially once A&M started getting back into it? Specifically with the end of the first half, can you just take us through the last drive that led to the field goal there?

“As far as how we managed it, I would say not well enough when we got outscored 28 to nothing in the second half. So certainly, there’s some things that you would like to do different, but by no means was that because we said, ‘Hey, let’s take our foot off the gas pedal or slow things down, or try and milk the clock. I mean, if you look back at our calls offensively, defensively, and special teams, I feel like we were as aggressive, if not more aggressive, with what we were calling in the second half. It was certainly not playing not to lose mentality. We were going to try and score more points and continue to be aggressive. And our calls reflected that, whether it be the coverages we were playing, the pressures we were calling, the deep shots we were trying to take. Some things that we had called on special teams that we didn’t quite execute because of different reasons. We were very aggressive, for sure.

“At the end of the first half, we needed to come away with points there. Didn’t handle that great. We need to communicate a little bit better. But we had a play right before that Jayden Sellers is getting ready to come wide open on the play that we put in this week, that we get a little bit of pressure inside, and LaNorris got off of it a little bit too quickly. So that should have been, you know, Jayden was gonna be open for a touchdown. We just weren’t quite able to connect on it. So that’s one of those missed opportunities before the half. And then we had a little RPO with Brady (Hunt) that we’d love to catch and run right there or break a tackle, but we weren’t able to. And then on the play right before the field goal, it was, we had a little mesh concept called for man coverage. (A&M) did a good job of covering the routes, and we really didn’t have anywhere to go with it. So kudos to them. And then, at that point, you maybe can try and rip one more play in there with the time. I’ve seen it done, but didn’t want to risk it. So went ahead and thought, let’s kick the field goal and make this a four-score game, a 27-point lead going into the half.”

Do you have a timetable in mind for your new OC hire, and will you make that hire first before you make the offensive line coaching hire? Do you want the new OC to have some say in that hire?

“As far as time frame, I don’t want to lock myself into anything, but I would say as soon as possible after the Clemson game, whatever that looks like, whether it be within the current staff or outside this building. I don’t want this thing to drag down. We’ll play Clemson on Saturday. We have signing day a few days after that. So we’ve got a really good class coming in and want to make sure we get that solidified and those guys signed. So that’ll be the focus, and some end-of-the-year stuff with the players and staff there immediately following the Clemson game. But we’ve got 13 days left, and I’ll give this team everything I’ve got over these next 13 days.

“But I’ve got an extremely high sense of urgency to immediately get to work on 2026 because I know how close we are. I know what kind of team we can be in 2026. We’ve shown that, as I just alluded to, with the two teams that will be in Atlanta in a few weeks, most likely where we were with those guys. We’re not far off, and I’ve got a high sense of urgency to go get to work as soon as possible after that Clemson game. But again, these next two weeks are my priority. And then in regards to the other position that we have on the staff, yes, whatever we end up doing, from a coordinator standpoint, I would certainly want whoever that person is to have some input on what the offensive staff looks like.”

With the running backs, how do you try to balance workload, but also get guys in position to get a rhythm?

“It’s certainly tough. I’ve coached running backs at Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, and I’ve seen it when I was at Georgia. We had Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, DeAndre Swift, and Elijah Holyfield on our roster. Those are four NFL running backs right there. And you want to get all of them in the game. So you’re trying to have some packages for some guys. You want to keep them all fresh as the game goes. But it’s one of those where you need to, you know, if there’s a guy that gets hot, you want to be able to keep him in as much as possible while keeping him fresh. But it’s hard to get in a rhythm if you’re in the game for three plays and then you don’t come back in for a quarter. So it’s a balancing act, but it’s a challenging thing. But when you’re able to get a couple running backs on the field, like we were able to do yesterday with some of the 20 personnel packages that we started the game with, that allows you to maximize those guys, and that’s what we’re trying to do is get our best players on the field. And there’s multiple running backs that are doing some really good things for us right now, and it’s good to have them all on the field.”

This is more of a hypothetical question for you. If you guys were to go 5-7 and be invited to a bowl game if there weren’t enough bowl-eligible teams, would you accept a potential invite?

“I would love to. Like I told you guys the other day, the opportunity to go compete again with this team, the opportunity to spend another month together with this team, the opportunity to continue to develop the young guys on our team for next season, one million percent. Just as a competitor, the opportunity to go compete again. Now I say that without having talked to Jeremiah (Donati) or Dr. (Michael) Amiridis, or Jeff Crane, my bosses. But yes, sign me up, just because how much I love coaching these guys and how much I just love coaching in general and competing in general.”

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