Shane Beamer details challenges of cutting down turnovers, keeping Spencer Rattler confident

Turnovers have been one of Shane Beamer’s top talking points coming into this season. He knows that, in order for South Carolina to get in a new gear, they’ll need to quit giving the ball away as often as they have during his two seasons in Columbia.

Beamer addressed that emphasis once again among others during a press conference last week. He started by reminding the media that some turnovers are created by things beyond the mistake of the players that have the ball and then lose it for the offense.

“We’ve broken down all the turnovers from last season. Some of it may be a poor decision by the quarterback. Some of it may be poor ball security when the quarterback is running,” Beamer explained. “But then, also, a lot of it is drops. It’s an offensive lineman maybe missing a blitz pickup and turning a rusher free or whatnot.”

Unfortunately for Spencer Rattler, he was one of the heads of this issue’s snake last year. In 2021, the Gamecocks turned the ball over nearly twice a contest with 1.8 per game. Then, in 2022, that number crossed that threshold as the offense, led by Rattler, averaged 2.1 per game. He himself was responsible for at least 12 of their total on the year with a dozen picks, the most of his career.

To be fair, he only threw three of those picks in their final five games from November on. Still, Beamer is doing his best to help Rattler find the right mix of being aggressive rather than timid but also knowing when too much is too much.

“I told Spencer last year going into the Tennessee game, I guess, that you can’t go out there and worry about making mistakes. Cut it loose and play free. I’m not taking you out of the game if you throw an interception. Like, you’re great when you’re just playing free, having fun, being aggressive, and cutting it loose,” said Beamer. “We need him to continue to be that way without a doubt.”

“You don’t want to get in your head where you’re talking about it so much. And it’s like paralysis by analysis,” Beamer added. “We’re not trying to do that and make him a robot out there.”

Beamer isn’t naive enough to think that South Carolina will go from several turnovers to none at all in the span of this offseason. In the end, it’s a result that just can’t be helped at times depending on a given scenario or defense. With that said, considering they will give the football away at some point, he just wants it to be in situations where the defense had to make a phenomenal effort to get it away from them.

“We’re not going to go through a whole season without turning the ball over,” said Beamer. “As much as I would like to, we’re going to turn the ball over some. You want to minimize it. And make sure that, when you do, it’s not because you’re carrying the ball poor or sloppy.

“The defense just makes a great play,” Beamer said. “Let’s make the other team earn it when that does happen.”