Everything Shane Beamer said about Alabama loss during Sunday teleconference

One day after South Carolina’s 29-22 loss to Alabama, head coach Shane Beamer met with the media during his Sunday night teleconference.

Here’s everything he had to say.

Absolutely. Here’s the same transcript with the “(Q&A)” removed and a blank line between paragraphs. No spoken words have been changed.

Opening statement…

Was on the phone with some recruits talking about the game yesterday.

As you guys saw, that was a pretty elite collection of talent that we had on our sideline yesterday from a recruiting standpoint, and what a display they saw of what Williams-Brice Stadium is about. And the players on the field also, obviously.

Looking back at the tape, I mean, there was so much good on offense, defense and special teams. So many great individual efforts on offense, defense, special teams.

Nyck Harbor, who catches a touchdown pass, but also did a great job as our gunner on the punt team and caused a fumble on a technique that we teach where you drive that guy into the returner and try and, you know, get the ball to hit off of him. I mean, that’s how we teach stuff.

And it was really cool to see that show up on tape. We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, in my opinion.

We started fast. We wanted to take the ball if we won the toss and told the team in practice on Thursday that we were going to do that and good to be able to go down the field and get points. We challenged our defense before the game because the last two home games, we gave up touchdowns on our opening drive to Kentucky and Oklahoma so challenged the defense to start faster. And they did a great job starting the game.

Some missed opportunities, to say the least, on offense, defense and special teams that, you know, that game came down to 1, 2, 3 plays, and there were plenty of opportunities for us to swing that game the other way by making just one more play.

Had some missed opportunities in the return game on punt return and kickoff return that, you know, could have changed that game. Got to be better in the red zone on offense and defense, they scored touchdowns and we didn’t in the red zone. And that’s certainly where we have to be better.

And then just we got to finish. Got to finish games in the fourth quarter. It’s not like us. Our record since I’ve been the head coach when we lead going into the fourth quarter has been really, really good, as I mentioned yesterday.

And that’s, you know, too many times now this season where we’ve had an opportunity to either, you know, finish a game because we were leading going into the fourth quarter, or we had the ball with the opportunity to tie it up in the fourth quarter like we had at LSU and didn’t get it done. So that’s where we need to be better, is just finishing, finishing drives and, and finishing games, which is disappointing because we put a big emphasis on the fourth quarter in practice and in games and, and we just haven’t done a good enough job of it.

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On standout performers…

Looking at guys that played well. Special teams, Colin Bryant and Mason Love.

Colin did a great job covering kicks last night for us. Made two solo tackles on kickoff coverage. He transferred here from Alabama a few years ago, so that was a big game for him going up against those guys. And then Mason Love, not just punting, but he really had a nice game holding for us and flip field position with his punts.

Offensively, Tree at offensive tackle and I want to shout out the whole offensive line. I mean, I’m recognizing Tree, but I really was impressed with just our offensive line.

Yes, Alabama made some plays, they had some TFL, some sacks popped up, but we played really well, played really physical on the offensive line, played with great energy on the offensive line. Felt like Tree was the best of that bunch.

And then Donovan Murph at receiver, he’s just, he’s a competitor. He made some plays yesterday in the passing game, as you guys saw, and someone that we got to continue to get more involved.

And then defensively, Vicari Swain did a nice job. They challenged him a lot.

He had some one on one opportunities on deep balls and did a nice job defensively, was active, caused a fumble on the blitz that we brought him on off the edge. And then Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine, they played their rear ends off and if there were two tackles in the SEC that played better than those two guys this weekend as a combination, I’d like to see it because they were all SEC type defensive tackles last night.

They were active, they were physical, they created knockback and that’s who they are. So we need to, they need to continue to do that and bring that energy and physicality.

But really proud of them and the way they played. I’m really proud of all of our guys and the way they played, as I said yesterday, hurt for them.

They put a lot into that game as they do every game. And we expected to win, as we’ve expected to win every game this year and came up a little bit short.

But it’s back to work today and you know, another opportunity to get better, and that’s our challenge this week, is to see if we can get better and, and close or narrow some of those margins that are keeping us from winning right now. Because it’s razor thin, the difference in winning and losing, and we’re just not making enough winning plays, particularly in critical moments, as we saw last night in the fourth quarter.

On how encouraging the line play was …

Very. I mean, we’ve shown that we can be that team. And I thought the offensive line really did a good job. As I said, I thought the defensive line really did a good job.

Gabe was banged up a little bit, so he really only played a few plays. So it was basically Monkell and Nick most of the game, and they played their rear ends off and then the edge guys with Brian and Dylan and that crew. So, yeah, very encouraging.

The SEC is a line of scrimmage league, and you better be good up front and those guys, you know, continue to get better and play with the right temperament and mindset that they need to play with as well.

On what has led to improved o-line play…

I’d say it’s a little bit of everything. And, you know, this isn’t the first time they’ve played with that. I mean, in the Kentucky game in the fourth quarter, as I’ve alluded to a lot, I mean, they played with that temperament and mindset then, but certainly when you get guys healthy and you’ve got some depth in there, where if somebody’s tired or somebody’s struggling, you can put somebody else in, which we did yesterday.

And then when their bodies are feeling good and they’re able to turn it loose, I mean, we got a talented group and, you know, I think it’s a combination of a lot of things, but certainly they’re us being healthier on the offensive line and being able to, you know, prepare the way that we need to prepare and practice during the week. It shows up on Saturdays when you’re able to do that.

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On LaNorris Sellers mindset and if you have to have a special conversation with him about dealing with how the game ended…

No, I don’t, I don’t think so. He gave us a chance to win. He’s a competitor. He hurts more than anybody.

I told him in the team meeting today in front of the team. I mean, he did a great job. We’ve been on him about ball security going back to even last year, just when he runs, how he carries the ball, and he carried it a lot yesterday.

And I thought he did a great job of carrying it with the proper technique and protecting the ball. And he was on that one, too. I mean, the one that he fumbled the play. You know, the guy made a good play.

We got to sustain that block, but the guy made contact with him and basically just grabbed the ball. And LaNorris is fighting for extra yardage, and the guy eventually just, you know, was able to get it out, but it wasn’t for a lack of ball security. And LaNorris gave us an opportunity to win that game.

You know, you talk to him like you do every game, like we do all of our players. There’s plays in the run game and the throw game that he needed to be better at either making a different decision or whatever it may be. So you address those things like you always do. And I don’t worry about him.

I mean, obviously, you know, the guy’s trying to help us win the game. And there were a lot of plays in that game that determined the outcome that are directly affected the outcome, and that was one of them that everybody wants to talk about, but there were a lot of other ones and he did a great job throughout the game.

On kicking extra point instead of trying to go up 9 points…

Because it was, to me, you make it an eight-point game. Now they’ve got to drive the field, score a touchdown and go for two to tie the ball game. Yeah, I mean, you could be aggressive and say go for two and make it a nine point game, but then if we don’t get it, y’ all are asking me on the call today, why did you not kick the extra point there and make it an eight point game?

So that was, you know, we discussed it on the sideline for about five seconds during the drive that if we scored here, do we want to go for two? And it was an absolute, ‘No.’ It was kick the extra point and now they’ve got to do two different things just to tie you go to go down the field, score a touchdown and get the two-point conversion.

On Shawn Elliott’s impact with the OL…

Yeah, I think they’ve done an awesome job. Shawn’s come in that room and, he’s a different personality and they’ve adjusted to his personality and that’s one thing that we talked about on Tuesday, Alex, in our team meeting that just because I made Shawn the offensive line coach before the Oklahoma game, you know, three days or four days, five days, whatever it is, there’s just not going to be some drastic change in five days because there’s still very much a feeling out process, getting to know each other’s process, what Shawn’s like during the meetings, what Shawn’s like on the practice field, what Shawn’s like on gameday where this week, because it was week two, there’s now a better understanding of what to expect.

And I thought those guys played that way yesterday and played with the right energy and spirit and did a great job. So credit, it goes to the players in that room and then credit goes to Shawn for, you know, what he’s brought to that room. And yesterday was a big challenge and the Oklahoma defense was a big challenge. And this Saturday night in Oxford will be another big challenge for them.

On what the thought was and what was next if Sellers doesn’t fumble…

I’m trying to do everything we can to go score. I mean, obviously you’re trying to get into field goal range, but we had plenty of time on that run or on that play.

So we, you know, we had called that play earlier in the game, Phil, and had some luck with the quarterback run game, whether it be design runs or quarterback draw, thought we would be able to. On that one, they defended it well, but it was one of those. Okay, if we don’t get it then we got plenty of time. It’s third down, let’s go get the first down and then get this thing moving.

And ultimately sure I’d love to score a touchdown but definitely let’s get into field goal range and we work those scenarios all the time in practice, the two minute offense.

On run-game wrinkles and tight end alignment…

Oh, it was good. That formation is something that Shawn had done at Georgia State that he liked (with a TE inserted into the gap behind the OL).

Can’t remember if we did it in a game last year or not. We did, we did it against Kentucky. We did it against Kentucky last year Ben, where that guy’s kind of in that A-gap alignment almost like an extra lineman. We did it against Kentucky up in Lexington.

So it’s something we’ve done in the past and wanted to bring back and some design runs, quarterback runs and running back runs and you know, really it was more just about their really good defense. They do a good job, keeping them off balance with formations and throwing some new stuff at them.

That also falls into the, you know, blueprint of what we were trying to do yesterday in regards to, you know, spreading them out a little bit and maximizing our best, best schemes and personnel, which we try and do every Saturday.

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On if there was confusion or communication issues that led to the timeout on the two-point conversion…

That’s why I was so frustrated because there shouldn’t have been any confusion, because I had said on the headphones well before that play that if we scored a touchdown, I was going to go for two. So I had made that decision prior to the touchdown and that had been conveyed to the coaches and the coaches were well aware.

I mean Mike had a call, we got the ball on the hash that we wanted. Mike made the call that I knew we were going to call. So there wasn’t an issue with the staff. It was I think players and I was frustrated.

I think players that’s an emotional moment. We catch the touchdown pass, they’re celebrating.

But we need to have some awareness of hey guys, like we can’t celebrate too long because those are things that we talk about in our team meeting. Like there’s a 40 second play clock on an extra point or a two point conversion and you know, we can’t celebrate too long and I think too many guys got caught up in the moment a little bit right there.

And that was my frustration was just that we had been talking about this with our guys, that when we score a touchdown we’re going to go for two. And then we celebrated too long.

On the punt block attempt with no returner back…

It was rush where we’re bringing basically nine people. Most people in a rush, they’re bringing seven or eight and they have some people popping out for fakes and things like that.

We brought nine people on a rush, something very similar that we did against Alabama last year, I believe. And, and in that instance, Vicari is the returner but he’s down kind of just covering down for a fake because, if we do that, we don’t have a ton of eyes on the fake because they’re rushing.

So bringing Vicari down to kind of cover down and protect on the fake and then. Oh, we liked it against Alabama, Ben, because their punter had been a little bit inconsistent in regards to how far he was kicking the ball and you know, give him credit. We brought max pressure and he bombed one and you know, Vicari, we wanted him to be able to kind of cover down and then get back and field the punt and he bombed a punt and it was hard for Vicari to, to get back to it, but that’s what the thinking is on that one. Be aggressive and try and block a punt in kind of a max type look, which is something similar we did against Alabama.

We should have blocked a punt against them last year, backed up in their own end zone and we didn’t quite execute the right way.

Will you guys have a Halloween party in Oxford?

I hope we have a Halloween party celebration in Oxford.

When is Halloween? Friday night? Yeah, I think we’re staying in Tupelo, so I’m not sure what the Halloween festivities will be in Tupelo on Friday night, but we will be hunkered down in Tupelo and then hopefully can celebrate Halloween Saturday night in Oxford.

On team’s response today after yesterday’s disappointment…

Hurt. They’re all competitors and that sports, when you put a lot into something and you invest into something a lot and you lay it all out there on the field, you risk really, really, really hard disappointment and that’s what they dealt with yesterday. But not preparing the right way, you can guarantee, you got no chance. And they put a lot into it.

They fully expected to win that game and they really hurt in that locker room after the game and they hurt coming into the building today. You know, so we’re going to continue to pour into them and continue to coach and about to hit the practice field here in a few minutes and get right back to work and, and see how much better we can get this week as we go into Oxford.

On if Travian Robertson could be back soon…

Yeah, he’s very close. He was actually on the practice field last week, which was a really, really, really cool moment in a lot of ways for our team. Normally when he comes out to practice, he sits up on the balcony overlooking our practice fields outside his office.

This week, he was in the training room doing some stuff and we were able to get a golf cart to pick him up and drive him across the practice field to where the defense was. And then he got out of the golf cart and was able to stand kind of behind the play and watch the guys on the field.

And I know our players really love that and being able to come over there and talk to him and touch him and see him and whatnot. So yes, he had a surgery last week and don’t know exactly what it means for his status this week, but he’s very, very close to being back out there, which would be awesome for all of us.

On jet sweep look with Matthew Fuller…

Yeah, there’s a couple that we didn’t block quite the right way. Ben, when we left, a couple guys unblocked, which is disappointing. But, yeah, that’s just, you know, we wanted to get… when we did that look, we had two running backs on the field at the same time. And that’s a personnel package that we like. And we work on perimeter runs all the time, whether it be jet sweeps or bubbles or whatever it may be. So we got to continue to get better at blocking on the perimeter. But we did like that yesterday, and good job, Matt, running it.

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