Shane Beamer has high praise for Georgia QB Stetson Bennett

As Shane Beamer prepares for his biggest test yet as South Carolina head coach, he has high praise for a Georgia Bulldogs quarterback.

Following Stetson Bennett IV’s five touchdown performance last week, Beamer raved about the Bulldogs’ potential starting quarterback this weekend.

“The term ‘baller’ gets tossed around a lot, but it is the perfect way to describe Stetson – he is a baller,” Beamer said during his appearance on the SEC’s weekly coaches teleconference. “I just remember that he was a guy that could throw the ball, he’s athletic, you saw that with some of the runs he had last week against UAB. 

“The thing I remember, I was coaching offense (as the tight ends coach), so I wouldn’t see the scout team offense against our defense, … but I can remember at night and we’d always come in those staff meetings and it seemed like multiple times a week no matter who we were getting ready for, Kirby would comment to the staff about Stetson Bennett and ‘this guy (did) this,’ and ‘this guy (did) that.’ ‘He does this or he does that,’ and just what a great player he is.”

‘It’s obvious how highly Kirby thinks of him’

Moreover, Beamer was part of Smart’s staff for two seasons as tight ends and special teams coach. In his time at Georgia, Shane Beamer got to see Bennett first hand — and how much Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart liked him.

“It’s obvious how highly Kirby thinks of him,” Beamer said. “And he should, you know, he started the first half of last season, he started Saturday over some pretty good quarterbacks in that program. The fact that he turned to Stetson told me everything you need to know about how Kirby feels about him. And it’s certainly deserved. He’s without a doubt a baller of a kid.”

While it may seem like a mundane comment, it’s one of the highest compliments a coach can pay to their players. This weekend, Bennett’s baller ability could be on full display again if JT Daniels can’t go.

While he’ll be trying to deliver Bennett’s team a loss this weekend, it’s evident the respect Beamer has for the quarterback.

Shane Beamer on Luke Doty

While Bennett may be the quarterback of Beamer’s former employer, his quarterback now is Luke Doty. After dealing with a preseason injury, the South Carolina quarterback could be on his way back.

This week, Beamer mentioned that his quarterback is looking completely healthy prior to South Carolina’s game against Georgia.

“I know you guys will ask about Luke, he was at practice today,” said Beamer. “Did more today than he did on Sunday. More on this Tuesday than he did last Tuesday. So the biggest thing with him is to get the soreness out where he feels comfortable, and knocking off the rust. He hasn’t been in a lot of 11 on 11 situations against a full defense here for awhile. So, continuing to progress and get better every week.

“Fully expect him and the rest of our guys to be 100% on Saturday night.”

Last week, Beamer was hopeful Doty would be able to return against East Carolina. However, that wasn’t the case — Zeb Noland started his second consecutive game for the Gamecocks.

Luckily, it looks like Doty will return just in time to help South Carolina attempt to pull a gigantic upset on Saturday. If he does, he can prove he’s a baller to Shane Beamer — just like Stetson Bennett did.