Shane Beamer: South Carolina understands 'ramifications' of Clemson rivalry game

Shane Beamer is ready for Clemson, which could be an understatement as South Carolina looks to end the regular season on a high note.

Rivalry games are part of college football lore and the 2024 version of Clemson-South Carolina is now different. Not only are the Gamecocks playing their rival, they have a slim chance at the College Football Playoff.

So a win would be extra sweet for Beamer and South Carolina.

“The rivalry games, it’s what makes college athletics so special and so awesome to get to coach in a rivalry game like this,” Beamer said on Sirius XM. “The key thing is going to be, they’re emotional. You got to be able to keep your poise and composure and go play well. And the team that plays well is going to be the one that has the most success and we know that there’s more ramifications about this game. 

“I think it’s the first time both of us have been ranked since 2013 so we understand that, like I told our players, that’s because of the season that we’ve had. Like we put ourselves in a position where this is a quote unquote big game because of what we’ve done to this point. So continue to be us, and let’s worry about going 1-0 this week and I know it’s cliche but it’s true. Just go 1-0, and we do what we’re supposed to do everything else will work out the way it’s supposed to work out.”

South Carolina has won five straight games after a 3-3 start and is as hot as just about anybody in the country. Beamer expects his program to build on this success and continue to rise.

“That’s what I’ve told our guys is this is fun and this is exciting. But at the same time, once the game starts, it gets down to block and tackling and playing with great fundamentals and that’s what’s going to win this game,” Beamer said.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney joined Beamer in talking up the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry earlier on Tuesday, sharing that he loves that there are national implications this year.

“That’s probably the other difference. The Alabama-Auburn game, my background, always had a little bit more of national implications than this game has had, from a national standpoint,” Dabo Swinney said. “But that’s different this year. This is the game that’s got a lot of national implications. You know, that one down there’s just going to be bragging rights.”

Beamer and South Carolina take on Clemson Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET.