Shane Beamer: 'I am not getting the most out of this team right now'

After another subpar performance on Saturday, Shane Beamer was asked if he felt a change on offense was needed.

“I made a change last week,” Beamer said.

Which is true. Beamer decided to move on from Lonnie Teasley as offensive line coach after last Saturday’s loss to LSU. But this question was more about the playcalling and being unable to produce results throughout this season.

“Every week, we’re continuing to look at how to be better,” Beamer said. “Every week I do that, and every week I will continue to do that and continue to evaluate that.”

READ HERE: South Carolina-Oklahoma: The good and bad, key moments, what it means

The struggles have been apparent. The numbers don’t lie, as the Gamecocks are near or at the bottom of the SEC in all major offensive statistical categories. Now seven games into the season, things look bleaker than ever after a 26-7 loss to No. 14 Oklahoma at Williams-Brice Stadium.

For as good as Oklahoma’s defense has been, South Carolina had its opportunities to convert and get points. Right from the first offensive drive of the day, the Gamecocks marched down inside the 10-yard line and had four plays to get into the end zone. Four straight runs kept that from happening.

“I told Mike (Shula), on first down, you got four downs to get this. I knew I was gonna go for it on fourth down, regardless,” Beamer said. “One, I wanted a touchdown. Felt like we were down there. We had a nice drive going, and I wanted to make a statement about that. And then two, we went for it, knowing that if we don’t get it, they’re backed up, and they’re down there by the Cockpit, our student section. It’s loud down there, and (Oklahoma is) on the road, and it’s their first true road game this season in an SEC environment.”

That disappointing finish to the drive encapsulated the problems that the offense ran into against the Sooner defense. South Carolina finished with 224 total yards on 67 plays. After two solid performances in recent games, the run game didn’t do much, with only 54 yards on 34 carries.

When the Gamecocks needed to make a play in a key spot, they were mostly unable to. They were 3-for-15 on third downs but 4-for-7 on fourth down.

It wasn’t the performance that Beamer had hoped for, especially after he felt the team had a great week of practice and a “hell of a walk-through” the day before the game.

Get USC Gamecocks app notifications

With five games left in the regular season, South Carolina has yet to put together the great offensive performance it’s been in search of. If it hasn’t happened yet, it may never will. But Beamer remains hopeful that the day will come when it all comes together for the group.

“What gives me hope? I see the way we practice during the week,” he said. “What gives me hope? I see the number of guys that we had out today that I wasn’t sure were going to be able to play, that fought their asses off to get back out there and get healthy and be able to play today. What gives me hope? I know the talent we have on our offense.

“What I just told our team, we’re not playing up to our potential right now. We’re not, I, I, I am not getting the most out of this team right now, offensively, defensively, and special teams. … Our guys continue to fight. I’ve got to be able to do more to help them. As the head coach and we as coaches got to continue to do more to help them. But we’ve got the right culture in our building, and that’s what gives me hope.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!