Everything Shane Beamer said after South Carolina's 24-point loss to Vanderbilt

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media after the Gamecocks’ 31-7 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“Congratulations to Vanderbilt. They came in here and obviously played really, really well. We did not. It starts with me. Not good enough. You lose a turnover battle like we did tonight, when you turn the ball over four times in this league, you’re going to get your butts kicked. And that’s what happened tonight. This is not enough. Not enough winning football. Told the team before the game, Vanderbilt, as a team you’ve got to go beat, they’re not going to give you anything. And we didn’t do that tonight. Way too much self-inflicted stuff. Injury-wise, don’t have an update for you on LaNorris (Sellers) or Cason (Henry).”

If you do have to be without LaNorris Sellers for some time, is the quarterback position Luke Doty’s?

“We’ll look at everything as Luke was in there tonight, and we all got to be better. We’ll evaluate everything as we go into the Missouri week. I understand the question, but way too soon for that, my man.”

When Sellers went out, and you had those 4th and 1 situations, can you just take us through those two play calls?

“First one, yeah, I mean, it’s a basic power play that we’ve run all the time. (Vanderbilt’s) really good in short-yardage defense. Hindsight being 2020, maybe throw it there, because I know how good they are at stopping the run in short-yardage defense. But we had what we thought was a good play call, and the linebacker ran through the A gap, and our offensive lineman didn’t come off on him quick enough. So (it’s) not good enough. The second one was an RPO, and they brought pressure, which is what we thought they would do. Luke pulled it, and we’ve got Jordan Dingle. I know Luke got hit, but we’ve gotta make that throw, and (Dingle’s) probably going to catch it and run for a first down, or maybe more.”

When Sellers went out and the second half began, just how big a blow was that to the team? What kind of mood did you sense from the guys coming out of the break?

“It wasn’t good enough. I thought, you know, obviously, when you lose the leader of your football team, and you lose your starting quarterback, like that, and we’re doing a lot of good things. I mean, I thought we did a lot of really good offensively in the first half. I think we only had four possessions in the first half, and three of them we went right down the field and moved the ball down the field, and we’re in scoring territory. And then we have a turnover, we have a missed field goal, and then on the other one, it was just some pitiful football where I think we had a first down and ended up like 3rd and 32.

“But my point being, I was pleased with a lot of the stuff we were doing offensively. I told the team at halftime that we’ve got to go out and continue to play good football because we were doing a lot of really good stuff. But I don’t like the way that we started the second half offensively with a three-and-out. You can criticize me for not going for it on fourth down, but I felt like, early in the second half, punt the ball and go play defense. I didn’t like the way that we played that drive offensively, and I didn’t like the way that we played that drive defensively to start the second half.

“And that’s on me if we don’t take the field with the right amount of energy to start the second half. But disappointed that we let them, after we punted it, just go right down the field and score. But I thought the team was okay. It’s not good enough.”

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Under the circumstances, how do you think that Doty actually did play tonight?

“Certainly, some plays that he would like to have back, but he’s a sixth-year senior and a guy that we believe in, and the team believes in and trusts. I thought he did okay. None of us were good enough tonight. When you get beat 31-7, nobody’s good enough.”

A lot of defensive breakdowns in that second half. What kind of contribution do you make to that? And how much of anything might have been fatigued from just how Vanderbilt can extend drives?

“Yeah, I would hope like hell it wasn’t fatigued. (Vanderbilt) played 63 plays. So if we’re fatigued after 63 plays, that’s not good enough. Part of it is we’ve got to get our own butts off the field. They were five of seven, I think, on third down in the first half. And one of the keys to the game for us was we’ve got to be great on first down, because we were last year, and get them into second and long, which we did. I mean, we got to bet a lot of second and longs in the first half, but then they’re converting third downs. And so we got to get our own butts off the field. And so I don’t think it was fatigue. That would be seeking comfort. We’ve got to tackle better. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to execute better.”

What did you see from Vanderbilt on that first drive of the second half? Did it seem like they were just getting some guys open and maybe some gaps to run through?

“Yeah, just got to play better. I can’t remember play for play that drive. I’m sorry. I mean, they had a couple of explosives, and when you give up explosives, it’s probably because you’re not where you’re supposed to be.”

With Dylan Stewart’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, would he have to miss the first half next week?

“I think so. I’m not positive. I think that’s the case.”

Did Sellers come back on the field in the second half, or was he in the locker room?

“No, in the fourth quarter, he was in the training room in the fourth quarter. I don’t know if he came back out there to finish.”

You alluded to that one drive that was 3rd and 33 or whatever. There were a handful of pre-snap penalties. How frustrating is it that those continue to be a thing for you guys?

“Really frustrating. Just a lot of not good enough football tonight, and when you have that much self-inflicted mistakes, that falls on the head coach and got to get it corrected.”

What was the message to the team in the locker room after the game as you guys look to turn the page to Missouri?

“What I told the team afterward the game in the locker room was that when you turn the ball over four times in the SEC, you’re going to get your rear ends kicked, and that’s what happened tonight. I told the team that we didn’t do enough winning football tonight. I mean, there’s a ton of self-inflicted mistakes; that starts with me. I’m going to get it corrected. Disappointing because we had a great week of practice, and we were certainly ready to play. And it wasn’t good enough.

“But I told the team I was still encouraged, because when you look at it, it’s 31-7. You say to yourself, there’s not a lot of good, but I saw a lot of really good tonight, too, at times, just not enough of it, and that there’s a lot of football in front of us. But we got to get a whole lot better, because right now it’s nowhere near good enough. But we have players in that locker room that care and hurt, and we got to continue to stay together, because we know the noise on the outside is not going to be positive, and we have to be positive here. We’re sitting here at 2-1 with a ton of football in front of us, and we’ve got a big trip coming up to Missouri in seven days.”

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