Roles shift in the trenches as South Carolina offensive line manages injuries

Look anywhere on social media among South Carolina fans and you’ll find one complaint that stands out: What is going on with the offensive line play through five games?
South Carolina’s offensive front has allowed quarterback LaNorris Sellers to be sacked 14 times in just five games, with many of them coming on pivotal downs.
As a whole, the Gamecocks are ranked 120th in sacks allowed, only ahead of 134th-ranked Auburn in the SEC. The ranking is exactly where South Carolina finished in 2024 after allowing 41 sacks in 13 games.
While Shane Beamer doesn’t want to seek comfort or excuses, injuries piling up across the line have put the Gamecocks behind.
South Carolina has been without starting right tackle Cason Henry for most of the past three games and also lost Nolan Hay for the last game and a half and after he moved into the starting lineup at center against Mizzou.
“I mean, I think it’s been a factor. I don’t want to sit here and seek comfort and say that we’ve had injuries and we haven’t been as good as we would like,” Beamer said Sunday during his weekly teleconference. “But it’s not ideal. I mean, last night we started our third different center in five games, and then we had two guys that started against Missouri that weren’t even in uniform last night.”
Continuity helps when dealing with injuries, Beamer said. As players go out, roles have to shift throughout the line.
Having guys who are athletic enough to have that flexibility helps when you’re shifting players around, Beamer said.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s a testament to our offensive line that we’ve got some guys up there that are good athletes and are smart enough to bounce around and have some position flexibility,” Beamer said. “We do a lot of work on that in spring practice and preseason, trying to train guys in different areas.”
Beamer named Vershon Lee, now with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad, as an example of that flexibility. Noting that he played center, guard and tackle for the Gamecocks and is now in the NFL.
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However, despite early struggles and managing injuries that have piled up, the group showed improvement against Kentucky. South Carolina allowed Sellers to be sacked twice in the victory against the Wildcats.
“Really proud of those guys coming in last night and playing really, really physical,” Beamer said. “And that’s what I was proud of, was just the intensity that they played with, the physicality they played with, the way they tried to finish blocks.”
The improvement came after a weekend in Columbia, Missouri, that saw South Carolina give up five sacks.
The run blocking also took a step forward on Saturday night. Against the Wildcats, South Carolina picked up a season-high 178 yards, adding all three of the Gamecocks’ offensive touchdowns.
“That’s a hell of a lot better than -12, or whatever we were last week,” Beamer said postgame. “So, that’s a positive. We ran it 48 times — which, I love that.”
SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic was also complimentary of the Gamecocks’ offensive front against Kentucky.
“Thought OL had much better energy. Brought the fight,” Cubelic posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
South Carolina also dropped the number of presnap penalties offensively to one against Kentucky after committing six false starts at Mizzou. Heading into Mizzou weekend, the Gamecocks had nine on the season, including four false starts against South Carolina State.
For now, the group seeks to continue improving and get healthy heading into LSU week.
“The bye week is coming at a good time. There’s no question about it,” Beamer said.