Intensity rises for South Carolina as SEC play approaches

No. 11 South Carolina officially kicks off eight straight games of SEC action Saturday night against Vanderbilt.

As the conference slate kicks off, the Gamecocks and head coach Shane Beamer are focused on the Commodores.

“I told them after the game in the locker room Saturday night, I knew the result of the Virginia Tech game because it was freaking one o’clock in the morning or whatever it was here,” Beamer said. “And I told them that, you know, we’re playing them. We open up SEC play. We got a team rolling in here that just ran off, I think, 34 straight points against Virginia Tech and rushed for 260 something yards against them to get their attention pretty quick.”

After a long night following a rain delay, Beamer told his team they needed to get home, get rest, and get back to work. Intensity ramps up quickly when conference play begins.

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Through four years of Beamer as head coach, South Carolina is 15-17 in SEC play. In 2024, the Gamecocks finished 5-3, with two of those losses coming by three points or less.

“The message is that it ramps up another level this week, that the non-conference games are over, and the SEC is a different animal,” Beamer said. “… You’ve got to take care of your bodies. The freshmen who just got here, who had a 10-game regular season in high school, and you might be done by Halloween. We’re just getting started, and we start up this week, but we have seven more SEC games after this one.”

Beamer doesn’t have to say much to his team as the competition ramps up. That’s because the team leaders make sure players know what is ahead.

While every opponent is the same in their eyes, the intensity rises because of the growing level of competition, edge rusher Bryan Thomas Jr. said. Regardless of the opponent, the team is looking to play ball.

During South Carolina’s SEC slate, the Gamecocks face six ranked programs, including five straight from Oct. 11 to Nov. 15. That schedule includes road trips to No. 3 LSU, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 17 Ole Miss, and the Gamecocks’ road opener against No. 25 Missouri next weekend.

“I mean, it’s just like, you want to say, you treat them all the same, and you do. But everybody knows when it’s an SEC game,” Beamer said.

Starting offensive lineman Boaz Stanley also recognized the growing intensity of SEC play. To be ready every week, the team needs to not only work harder on gamedays, but practice harder.

“We got eight weeks of straight playing in the SEC,” Stanley said. “So that’s something of a mentality that things are getting real. … Go at every day like it’s a game.”

Beamer could tell things were ramping up when Tuesday’s 8 a.m. meeting had a different feeling and energy.

“Just the energy in there. It just felt different. Being on the practice field today, it felt different,” Beamer said. “And as a coach, you wish it didn’t. You wish every Tuesday was the same. But certainly the level of intensity ramps up when conference play starts.”

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