Everything Shane Beamer said after South Carolina's win over Kentucky

South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media after the team’s 35-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday. Here’s everything he had to say.

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Opening statement

“Best of luck to Coach [Mark] Stoops and Kentucky next week. [I’ve got a] ton of respect for them and their program and the way they do things. When you play this team, you have to beat them. They’re physical; they’re well coached. We knew that coming into it, and [I’m] really, really proud of our guys and the way they played. We knew it was going to be a physical football game, and to sit here and having beat Kentucky, now, four straight years is something that I and our entire program take a lot of pride in because of the respect we have for those guys. And that’s no small accomplishment to beat that team four years in a row.

“[I’m] just so, so proud of our team, the way they responded this week with the negativity out there. They just went right back to work. There’s perception, and there’s reality. We knew where we were as a team and knew we hadn’t come close to playing our best and that we needed to be better tonight in all three phases. We talked about it last night in our team meeting. Last year up there [in Lexington], we did a really good job of playing complementary football: special teams, covering kicks and forcing them to have long fields; defensively, getting turnovers; offensively, capitalizing on turnovers. And that’s what happened tonight.

“Obviously, when you score twice on defense, you’re going to be really hard to beat. And that’s what we did. But our players responded throughout the week, preparing for this game. We knew the importance of it. I mean, I’m not an idiot. We knew this was a pretty important game. And our guys responded the right way. Our guys responded tonight to adversity.

“I mean, give Kentucky credit. They got a redshirt freshman quarterback [Cutter Boley], and they win the [coin] toss. They take the ball, and they run it right down our throats on the first drive and out-physical us on that drive. That was disappointing to see. But then, every time adversity happened tonight, we responded. And that’s a testament to the culture in our program.

“They had the opening drive. I think we went right back down the field and scored right after that. We didn’t get the fake punt, and then the defense went out there and held on the three. Then, they cut it to a two-score game, and then we went right back down the field and responded. And then, the last drive — I mean, you want to talk about finishing? Holy smokes. We didn’t finish last week in Missouri. I’m not sure what time the players told me, [but] we got the ball back with nine minutes on the clock and just pounded the ball down the field. I don’t know if that’s right or not, but that’s what they told me: that it was a nine-minute drive. But whatever it was, it was really freaking good to not have to give the ball back to them anymore after that.

“The last four years now that we’ve beaten them in a row, every game there’s been impactful special teams or defensive plays. Tonight was no different with the scores on defense. You guys that have covered us remember we went up there in 2022, and we caused a fumble on the first play of the game with David Spaulding and Tonka [Hemingway]. And then, King Ford blocks a punt that night. 2023, we won here [in Columbia]. I can’t remember; I know we had a blitz pick-up that we picked up to win, to score. 2024, last year up in Lexington, we had the pick-six by Nick [Emmanwori]. And then, tonight, [we had] two scores on defense. So, against a really good defense like Kentucky, you got to be able to make plays like that.

“We did want to thank our fans tonight. It was just a great statement about our program, in my opinion. And how we responded tonight was a great statement about our fan base and why they are the greatest fans in the world there. This wasn’t one of those sellouts, and there’s a bunch of empty seats in the upper deck. This was a sellout with not an empty seat in the stadium. That Gamecock Walk was amazing — the noise, how loud they were. I mean, our players responded, and our fans responded the right way. We are so, so, so grateful for them. It’s a great statement. We wanted to make a statement tonight as a team. We made a statement about us as a team, I thought, and we made a statement about our fanbase, for sure.

“Even going back last year, there was a thing that came out on social media about the awesome group of people every Friday afternoon at 5:50 p.m. that stand out on Bush River Road and watch our busses come by on the way to the team hotel. And you bet your rear end they were out there yesterday in the rain as those busses came by. So, those people, we thank you; we are grateful for you. And that’s what Gamecock football is about. I guess there was a wreck or something on [Interstate] 26 because Bush River Road was a parking lot yesterday going to the hotel. There were rain storms. I’m like, ‘Are they going to be out there?’ You bet your rear end they were out there and waving and cheering. Our players, even on the bus, were like, ‘Wow.’ That’s what our fan base is like.

“We talked in our team chapel today before we came over. Pastor [Charles] Jackson, who does an amazing job, talked about, when you have adversity, there’s ‘The Three P’s.’ I wrote it down to make sure I could say it in here. There’s perspective, and we had great perspective about why we were 2-2 and why we hadn’t played better and coached better the last two weeks. There’s perseverance, and that’s what we showed persevering through the adversity of the last couple of weeks. And then, there’s partnership, and we showed how close this team is and how connected they are, playing well in all three phases tonight, making impactful plays on offense, defense and special teams.

“So, [I’m] just really, really, really, really, really proud of those guys in there. That’s a happy locker room, and it should be. [I] love coaching this group, and I’m glad they got to experience some success tonight because they deserved it.”

You’re not wearing sunglasses right now?

“No sunglasses, but we were playing Soulja Boy in the locker room.”

After scoring two defensive touchdowns, do you look at the bye week saying, maybe, to try to get some of those guys over on offense?

“Well, we gave Gerald [Kilgore] a game ball. He was a quarterback in high school, and he was a quarterback to start his career at Tennessee Tech. So, you saw his running skills afterwards, and [he did a] great job. We didn’t have a turnover again tonight ourselves on offense, right? Yeah, we didn’t turn the ball over. It’s two games in a row that we haven’t done that. That’s huge. And then, to get them on defense like we did, that was huge.

“But, yeah, to win the turnover battle, we talked about it. Clayton [White] talked about it to the defense last night: ‘Don’t just win the turnover battle; we want to dominate this thing.’ And there’s an old saying with turnovers when they come in bunches.

“We had to stop the run first. That running back, Seth [McGowan], like I said, he and I were at Oklahoma together. [I have] a ton of respect for the way he runs the ball. [He] went for 112 [yards] tonight. He’s a load, and he’s hard to tackle. And with this freshman quarterback that they had, a redshirt freshman quarterback, he’s a good player, but we had to make him uncomfortable [with] our defense and our crowd. The only way you can do that is to stop the run. And then, when we were able to force them in some passing situations, our guys were certainly opportunistic.”

How do you evaluate the running game tonight, specifically with LaNorris [Sellers] getting himself going in the run game?

“In regards to the running game, we ran for 178 [yards]. That’s a hell of a lot better than -12, or whatever we were last week. So, that’s a positive. We ran it 48 times — which, I love that. I love the fact that we were out there on that last drive, a couple of those plays we wouldn’t even have a receiver on the field. We had four tight ends out there just playing old-school, smash-mouth football. So, it was good.

“[It] certainly needs to be better. I thought we missed some cuts. Looking at it early on, on tape or on the iPad on the sideline, [it] looked like there were some runs that were, maybe, blocked a little bit better than what we got out of it. Certainly, LaNorris being able to run for close to 100 yards is good.”

With Matt Fuller, it seemed like he got all the carries there in the fourth quarter. Is he becoming your top option in that running back room right now?

“I wouldn’t say that necessarily about Matt becoming number one. I mean, we love Oscar [Adaway]; we love Sul [Rahsul Faison]; we love Matt. But Matt was a guy that we wanted to get going. We did that last week. We had a package for him last week where we had two running backs on the field at the same time, and that was his role. And then, tonight, we kind of expanded that role where he was going to be out there with just he being the only running back. In the fourth quarter, we felt like everything was under control. I liked the way that Matt came in there and finished the game. He’s a load.”

Obviously, LaNorris picked up some of those first downs with his legs on scrambles. But was there more of a concerted effort to get him running the ball tonight than previous games this year?

“I wouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t say that we had more or less quarterback runs in the game plan tonight that we did last week. A lot of those runs that he had were RPOs, where he kept it. It wasn’t necessarily a designed quarterback run. I’ll have to look back at it. I’m not even sure if we had just one called quarterback run. I mean, there were a couple quarterback draws that he ran in the first half where he had a couple options to throw it, and he ran it on the draw — which, he should have.

“He’s certainly a weapon. When your quarterback can run the ball like he can — and make up for a lot of mistakes, if you will — that’s a huge thing. We’ve got to continue to lean on that, but we’ve got to be able to get these other running backs going, for sure. But to run for 180 [yards] on these guys, that’s not easy to do because they’re stout on defense and do a great job coaching.”

A pretty amazing moment before the game was Connor [Shaw] being the Celebrity Starter. Everyone’s been following his journey and what he’s been going through. What was it like for you guys to watch him be back out there at Williams-Brice Stadium after the past few weeks for him and his family?

“I did not know that until my amazing wife, Emily, texted me and told me that he was going to be the Celebrity Starter. I got a lot of stuff on my plate each week. They don’t tell me who the Celebrity Starter is. I got other things to worry about. So, I didn’t even know he was doing that until Emily texted me. I guess he was in the plans maybe to do it one game, and he couldn’t. Or he was; I can’t remember.

“I love Connor. [I] talked to him last week out in Missouri because I knew he was going home. So, [I] called him from the hotel. Last week at Missouri, I mean, everybody talks about that game he had out there whatever year that was — ’13. And when we got the ball back last week with six minutes left, I mean, that popped in my head: ‘We’re in this. We’re going to go down the field; we’re going to score; we’re going to have the game winning touchdown. It’s going to be a great win like Connor had.’ And we weren’t able to get it done, which I hate.

“But [I] love what he’s about and love him as a person. He’s a great friend to me, a great friend of this program. And [I’m] so happy that he’s better. It’s a testament to his toughness that, a week ago, there was questions on Thursday night about, ‘Would he even survive?’ And then, nine days later, he’s out here on the field, leading the Gamecock chant? Come on, man, that gives me chills thinking about [it].”

Against Vanderbilt and Missouri, defensively, there were a lot of missed tackles. Kentucky had that first drive where they “ran down your throat.” But after that, they seemed to lock in pretty well. What was your evaluation of how they played in terms of tackling and bouncing back from those two previous games?

“I thought they were good. I mean, we talked about it — that we’ve got to tackle, obviously, but we’ve got to make sure, ‘Okay, if one guy misses the tackle, there’s 10 more showing up there in a hurry.’ And I saw a lot of that tonight, where you sit there and say, ‘Well, that’s a run that’s about to pop out of there. And then, here comes somebody to get the guy on the ground.’ So, I thought it was great effort to the ball. Not that it wasn’t against Missouri or Vandy, but it was really fun watching those guys fly around.

“That’s who we are. We looked like how I want this team to be. We’re a young team that continues to get better. We were out to two guys that started the game on the offensive line last week, did not play at all tonight. We had three true freshmen that started on offense. We’re a team that just continues to get better as the season goes. With all the youth that we have, we’re a team that is getting healthier. And then, obviously, we did some good stuff on defense tonight to be able to tackle like we did.

“I’m sure you got your next question is going to be about the penalties. It was good to see us only have five out there tonight after all the talk about that. [It] doesn’t mean that we’ve arrived. We’ve got to continue to keep the penalties down, but it was good to see some [players] be better on the pre-snap stuff.”

What would you have thought at the beginning of the season if someone told you Vandrevius Jacobs was going to be kind of the top wide receiver so far this season?

“I would say that it wouldn’t shock me. I know people on the outside are quick to say, ‘Okay, this is your top guy. Here’s your next guy. These two guys are going to be leading receivers.’ It’s not as simple as that. Nyck [Harbor] had one catch tonight. Obviously, we want him to get more than one catch. But we don’t tell LaNorris in the earpiece or in the helmet, ‘Hey, throw this ball to Nyck.’ We take what the defense gives you.

“Dre did a great job tonight. We made him a captain tonight because all that kid does is just work. And I would have told you if you had said that back in August that I wouldn’t be shocked just because I feel like we have a really good receiving room. I mean, looking at this stat sheet, Nyck caught one, Dre caught one, and then two tight ends [Brady Hunt and Maurice ‘Moe’ Brown II] caught one — and one of those was on a fake punt. So, certainly, there’s a lot of receivers that I didn’t name that are in that room that we have a lot of confidence in. [We] got to continue to get those guys involved, for sure.”

Kentucky came out and hit you with 141 yards in the opening quarter. But then, it was progressively less each of the next three quarters. How do you feel about how you couldn’t stop them early, but then whatever adjustments you guys made defensively, you shut them down the rest of the way with the help of the offense controlling the ball?

“Yeah, they did a good job early; we we did not. I was disappointed because I felt like, the first two drives, we got out-physicaled, just to be frank. That was disappointing because we knew it was going to be a physical game. I think, [on] some of those runs, you give them credit. But also, it’s a little bit of, ‘We got to get off blocks, and we got to set the edge better and fit some runs a little bit better.’ And I thought we did that as the night went on. Obviously, it really helped when you got a couple turnovers there in the first half, and we got some momentum going. I wouldn’t say it was big corrections. We just wanted to be disruptive.

“[I] thought Clayton did a great job with the calls, as did Mike Shula tonight with the way that he called that game offensively. It was good to see our guys step up and finish the second half — and, especially, the fourth quarter — the right way, offensively and defensively.”

Can you talk a little about changing kickers? The opening kickoff went out of bounds, and the second one almost went out of bounds. Then, you went with the senior in there. What were your thoughts on that?

“I would say the one thing that was disappointing tonight was our special teams. I talked to the team yesterday at our walk-through about, ‘Look, I know how much you want this game. Let’s not get out of here and, all of a sudden, start trying to do too much and lose our minds.’ And we did on special teams.

“We signaled for this thing [a T-bar signal for a fair catch], but I don’t know why Nyck would do that when Quel’s [Jaquel Holman] the one catching the ball. Vicari [Swain] fair-caught that last punt where the guy bombed it, and it’s got a chance to be, maybe, an 80-yard return for a touchdown. We run the fake punt, and we don’t quite execute it the right way; we kick a ball out of bounds. We just weren’t very clean tonight on special teams.

“Max [Kelley] is a really good kicker. He’s a true freshman; he’s doing a great job. Yes, the first kick went out of bounds. You can’t have it. I mean, that’s a bad place to put your offense in position. That’s one of our penalties right there. And then, the second one was, we talked about, ‘We’re a team that we want to make you return kickoffs.’ A lot of coaches get up there and just say, ‘Bang that thing in the end zone, and we’ll take it on the 25.’ Not us. We want to go cover kickoffs. And you saw us do that tonight with Moe Brown, the way he was going down there and making tackles.

“We want to be able to recover kickoffs. We got to put it in play, and we wanted to pin these guys in the corner because Kendrick Law is a dangerous returner. That’s one of the keys to the game for us this week. We couldn’t let him get going offensively or on special teams. So, we wanted to be smart about where we were placing the ball, and we just got a little too aggressive trying to pin it over there in the corner. So, [we] put William [Joyce] in there. [We] wanted to settle Max down a little bit and let William get in there and kick it. But [we have] total confidence in Max. He’s a great young player and will continue to get better.”

Is there an injury update on anything tonight?

“I think everybody is okay. Markee [Anderson] is the only one [who may not be]. I haven’t even talked to, Clint [Haggard], our trainer. Markee, he hurt his knee right there on that last drive and had to get helped off. I don’t know the status of him. The rest of those guys that got knocked out came back. Cason [Henry] and Nolan [Hay] didn’t play tonight. I would say that we’re optimistic for [them to play against] LSU in a couple weeks, but [I’ll] have a better update for you [tomorrow].”

Dylan Stewart hasn’t had the best games the last couple of games but was really a big difference maker tonight. How have you seen him respond to the last couple of weeks?

“I was proud of Dylan. Certainly, he hasn’t had the impact that he would like in regards to affecting the quarterback, but that also goes back to being able to stop the run. When you give up close to 300 yards rushing like we did last week, it’s going to be hard for your pass rushers to be able to get going. So, it starts with that.

“One of the things we said all week this week was, ‘Stop the run, and have some fun.’ And we were able to stop the run tonight. So, when you’re able to stop the run and force them to throw, we like our chances with him and Bryan [Thomas Jr.] and JT [Geer] and all those guys. We got Anthony Addison in there a little bit tonight, [and] Desmond [Umeozulu], but [I’m] proud of Dylan and how he’s handled it and played, especially tonight.”

You said tonight was what you wanted to see the team be. How do you carry that going into the bye week and as you get ready to hit the road to Baton Rouge?

“Just keep getting better. That’s why I love this team so much.

“I walked in the weight room on Monday, our guys’ off day, about midday, and Trovon [Baugh] was in the weight room by himself, just doing some extra work on his day off. And before I could even say anything to him, he looked at me and said, ‘It’s a new week. We’re going to beat the heck out of Kentucky. And then, we’re going to go into this off week and get even better.’ And that was the way that we prepared during the week, the way we practice during the week, the mentality coming in here. That’s what we’ve got to continue to be able to do.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot that we’ll see from this tape to correct. But to win an SEC game against a really good team by 22 points and make the plays that we did on defense and offensively, continuing to see good stuff, it’s a lot to build on. We know the month of October doesn’t get any easier, but we’re 3-2 coming out of September. We certainly hoped and expected to be 5-0 in a lot of ways, and we’re not. We’re 3-2 and got an off week to get healthy and get better and keep working.

“We like the start tonight. We talked about, ‘We got Kentucky, and then everything’s in front of us — October, November and beyond.’ Tonight was a really good start and certainly a game that we, let’s be real, had to have in so many ways.”

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