Everything Shane Beamer said after South Carolina's win over SC State

South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media after the team’s 38-10 win over South Carolina State on Saturday. Here’s everything he had to say.

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Opening statement

“First of all, best of luck to South Carolina State. They got a great program; we know that. [I] saw Coach [Willie] Jeffries and Coach [Buddy] Pough on the field after the game, obviously, along with Coach [Chennis] Berry. [They’re a] proud program that has tradition. There’s a reason they’ve played for the national championship last year and previous years, as well. They had that kind of team this year.

“[I], certainly, really appreciate our fans. That was amazing to, one, even going into the game, for that game to be sold out, for us to sell the most number of student tickets — or requested student tickets — in the history of home games. I know people don’t like sitting in [traffic]; I’m sure people are complaining about the traffic. I don’t control the traffic flow. But the traffic coming in was as backed up as I’ve ever seen it in all my years of being here. The Gamecock Walk, the energy on that; there was a lot of passion. The sweet South Carolina State lady that shot me the middle finger as we came by on the bus down Bluff road, [I] respect her. She was passionate. People were into it, and that was awesome.

“I didn’t know quite what to expect with the weather delay from our fans. I should have, though, knowing our fans. But what an amazing feeling for our players to come out after a two-plus hour delay and for that place to still be packed. 99.9% of schools in the country, if they had a two-and-a-half hour weather delay, they would come out to a half-empty stadium. And we came out to a packed stadium for pregame warm-ups. It’s amazing. I told our players at the hotel to make sure they understand how great our fan base is, and tonight was just another statement about our fan base and how amazing they are.

“[I] appreciate our grounds crew. That field looked amazing. It was cool to see the Blanchard logo on there. So, thanks again to Boyd and Rozier [Blanchard] and the entire Blanchard family — and what Gamecock Athletics means to them. [I’m] proud to have their name on the field.

“Having said that, [there’s] a lot that we’ve got to get better at. [It was] certainly a sloppy first half from an offensive standpoint. I think field position had a big reason for that. Not to make excuses, but I think our first four drives, we started all four of them inside the 20-yard line, if I’m not mistaken. There’s no excuse — we’ve got to be better when we’re backed up. But field position was a struggle early on.

“We weren’t very efficient. We know we need to be better. There’s a lot to clean up. [I’m] proud of the way I told our players at halftime that we’d find out a lot about our offense and our team in the first drive of the second half because we knew we were getting the ball first. They kicked off; and then, to have a drive right there — to go down the field and get points on that first drive of the second half — was huge.

“We know we need to be a lot better. We can’t rely on our defense and special teams to score three touchdowns a game like they did tonight. Credit to those guys. Our special teams units are weapons right now, and we need to continue [getting] them to be better. But we [have] a lot to clean up in all three phases. [We were] just sloppy in too many ways. That’s on me. I’m accountable. The pre-snap penalties, some of the sloppiness in the fourth quarter when we’re trying to finish the game — we just got to be better there.

“But we won the game. We’re 2-0. We get right back to work tomorrow. We know we have a big challenge against the team that I saw scored 34 unanswered points in Blacksburg tonight to beat Virginia Tech on their home field by over three touchdowns. So, SEC play opens up quick, and they’re on a plane right now, flying back to Nashville, and we’re here finishing up our game. So, we’ve got to get rest and get back to work early tomorrow morning.

“Injury update, it would be too long to name, guys, so don’t even ask. I’ll have a better answer for you tomorrow night on the teleconference. It’s not good. Obviously, we were down Jalon Kilgore going into the game. Brandon Cisse got hurt early in the game. Our third-team nickel is Jaquel Holman; he got hurt in the first quarter. So, we were down to literally our fourth nickel — which, kudos to Kelvin Hunter, he came in and, I thought, did a really remarkable job. [I] didn’t even think he was going to be playing; and then, he’s in there. He played the rest of the game. But then, we had some other injuries as it as it went: Brady Hunt, Josiah Thompson, the DBs. So, like I said, I’ll have a better answer for you tomorrow night on the teleconference.”

You mentioned that being backed up was part of the issue for the offense early on. Were there any other themes that you saw?

“No, I’ll have to look at the tape. [It was] just not very good. [We] didn’t run the ball very efficiently, didn’t throw the ball very efficiently. All 11 [players] out there need to be better, myself included.”

What are your thoughts on the offensive line’s performance and getting Shed Sarratt in there?

“It was good to get Shed in there. He wasn’t with us in Atlanta last week.

“And [it’s] hard to say. There were some some runs that looked like we maybe missed some reads on, but there were certainly some runs that we didn’t block very well, either. [We] got to look at that and certainly be better.”

Vicari [Swain] ran back two punts tonight in different fashions. What have you seen in how he’s been returning punts these last two games?

“He’s just playing with a lot of confidence. Joe D[eCamillis], yesterday, in our special teams meeting, challenged that group that there’s only been one team, I think, in the history of college football that’s returned a punt for a touchdown in three straight games. And that was some guy at Washington 10, 15, years ago. And he challenged them, ‘Let’s do it again tomorrow night.’ And we didn’t just do it once — we did it twice. But then, it was awesome to see David Bucey get in there and block a punt, as well. That’s a weapon. You saw that from my dad for so many years. When you’re a threat to block punts, but you’re also a threat to return punts, that puts the punt team in a bind.

“Vicari and that whole team, they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. I told the team this morning at the hotel when we were doing our special teams walk-through that, because of what they did in Atlanta last week — most fan bases, when it’s fourth down, the fans get up and go to the bathroom or go to the concession stands or whatever. But not this place. They’ve created an identity already, where people are going to stay in their seats on fourth down to see what happens. It was great to see some of the things we did tonight when South Carolina State punted the ball.”

On the second punt return, do you coach Vicari [on how to handle that kind of play]?

“No. That was one of those, ‘What the heck are you doing? Oh, great run,’ type things. I don’t know if he realized that it had been blocked. I think he thought that it was punted, and then their guy touched it. If their guy does touch it, we do teach those guys to pick it up because, no matter what, it’s going to be our ball. If they touch it, meaning the punt team, that would be an illegal touching, even if we fumbled it back. I think that’s what he thought happened. Obviously, we’ve got to coach it better that, we hit it first, and now, we need to get away from it and not be around the ball, for sure.”

Aside from field position, were there things you were seeing on the eight-play, 65-yard drive to open the second half that you didn’t see in the first half?

“Not necessarily. I thought we protected well, and we were efficient making some some throws and catches. We came in at the half; obviously, it hadn’t been good enough, so we talked a lot. We always meet as an offensive and defensive staff at halftime, and [we] talked a long time about what we needed to get back to. There were some plays in the first half that we thought were good, that we knew we needed to get back to, that we didn’t quite execute the right way in the first half. And [we] really spent a lot of time on what that opening drive was going to look like. I thought Mike [Shula] called a nice series, and we did a good job going down the field.”

When you have that long of a weather delay, and you’re not quite sure when things are going to get going, what are you guys doing behind the scenes to stay ready and make sure your players are staying focused ahead of the game?

“It was a challenge. Thankfully, we literally had the same scenario in preseason practice on our second preseason scrimmage. We came over here, and we got in the locker room. We were dressed; we were ready to go out for the scrimmage. And then, it was an absolute monsoon and storm to where the field wasn’t even playable. We waited out the weather delay thinking that it was going to clear up, and we realized it wasn’t going to clear up. And the field was messed up, so we ended up going back over to the indoor facility and having what I thought was, definitely the best scrimmage, but one of the best practices we had all preseason camp.

“That’s what we told our guys in the locker room. I was coming in there periodically just to check on them, and they kept telling me, ‘Hey, man, go see if they want to go play in the indoor [facility]’ — meaning South Carolina State. I’m, like, ‘I’m about to that point, guys, because it’s getting to be late and about when I go to bed. But they were good.

“It’s hard. I was sitting there, watching some other games, talking to our players, looking at my phone, just trying to get weather updates, and wasn’t sure we were going to be able to play anytime soon. And then, they came in and said, ‘We’re rolling here in about 30 minutes.’ So, that was great news to hear.

“But I thought the players did a good job of staying engaged and staying ready. And they were certainly excited, which is why I’m disappointed that we started a little bit slow. It wasn’t, like, ‘Ugh, alright, here we go.’ It was, ‘We can’t wait to get out there.’ And we said, ‘Can y’all get dressed in five minutes?’ And they were like, ‘Yes, sir.’ And we went and rolled, and [I] just wish we had started a little better.”

What areas do you see as needing the most improvement heading into your game next week against Vanderbilt, seeing how they just recently played against Virginia Tech?

“They played well, had a great win. I would say every area: offense, defense and special teams. We need to improve on all of them. And when I’m back in the office in six hours and start watching that tape, I’ll be able to dial in a little bit better. But, certainly, we all need to be better in all three phases, for sure.”

Even with the struggles on offense, it seems like the defense, no matter what, both weeks, [was] ferocious, swarming to the ball. What’s the mantra that instills that in those guys, no matter who the competition is, that’s how they’re going to play?

“I think that’s just our DNA and how we play. We talk about it. We want to play with great effort, and that you may make mistakes, but you can overcome them with great effort. The play that JT Geer got hurt on last week, it was a unbelievable effort play where he dove and made a play on their sideline. Not to throw JT under the bus, but he made a mistake on the play. But he actually overcame the mistake with just unbelievable effort, and then kept it to a one-yard gain, or whatever it was.

“That’s the thing, a mantra defensively: just put the ball down. We got a lot of really good players, and there’s a standard that we play with. And it’s the standard that we play with on special teams and offense, as well.

“But, certainly, [they’re] really good players, and we’re playing a lot of guys. Judge Collier is already out, your starting corner. Jalon Kilgore is out, your starting nickel. And then, you lose Brandon Cisse, your other nickel. And you lose Jaquel Holman, your other nickel, as well. It gets pretty dicey in there. And then, Brady Hunt went out at tight end. But you saw other guys step up on the defense, and that was good to see.”

You mentioned needing to get better in many areas. You had two offensive formation penalties in the first quarter, and then started the second quarter with another. Is that something you can chalk up to the delayed start?

“No, there’s no excuse for that. I mean, that’s day-one stuff, and that’s not good. There’s times we’re sitting there trying to draw them offsides, and we flinched. And then, we had back-to-back in the fourth quarter, which was disappointing. I’m getting ready to go for it on fourth down, and we had a false start. We got them to jump offsides, I thought; but then, apparently, we weren’t lined up the right way. And then, we punt, and we’re not lined up the right way. So, that that goes back to us as coaches and starting with me. Certainly, that’s correctable, but that’s disappointing to see because that’s day-one stuff, too.”

Are you concerned right now with not being able to establish the run like you’d like to in the first couple of games?

“I’d be lying to you if I said I was. I’m glad that we came in here and had 36 rushes for 125 yards. That’s not good enough.”

Donovan Murph got to start for you guys and had two catches tonight. What did you see from him?

“[He’s a] good young player. And all those young receivers are. I want to say all seven of them got in tonight, if I’m not mistaken. [Jordon] Gidron was coming back from a little bit of an injury, but those guys are all good young players. Murph got the start, but we’re excited about all those guys. And [we’re] proud of Donovan. He’s wise and mature beyond his years and came in there and did some good things tonight.”

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