Shane Beamer: 'We'll get our absolute butts kicked' if we practice how we did Tuesday

Leading into the season opener for most teams positivity abounds and players and coaches alike can’t wait to get things underway. Every now and then, though, you’ll get a coach who calls it like it is. Take center stage, Shane Beamer.

The South Carolina coach ripped his bunch for its effort in Tuesday’s practice.

“Practiced today like we just assumed things are going to happen a certain way on Saturday night,” Beamer. “Frankly the way we practiced at a lot of positions today will get our absolute butts kicked on Saturday night if we practice like we did today at some certain spots. That’s players and coaches.”

Not a whole lot to parse through there. Beamer was upset at his team’s effort level in Tuesday’s practice, just days before his squad will take on a very capable North Carolina outfit in Charlotte, N.C.

Beamer was frank about the effort level from his guys, which he said was not up to snuff.

“I’ll always shoot you guys straight,” Beamer said. “Disappointed with the way we practiced today. We did not practice today like it was game week, which was disappointing. Thought there would be a lot more urgency out there today. And it wasn’t terrible and it wasn’t everyone, but we had too many groups, too many individuals that practiced today like everything is just going to be OK on Saturday night.”

It’s a natural enough tendency. After weeks of participating in grueling training camps, game week can be like the light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course, players have to remember that the goal once you’ve reached the proverbial end of the tunnel following fall camp is to suit up against other quality teams and be able to win. There’s still a lot of preparation that goes into that.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Saturday,” Shane Beamer said. “Eager that the leadership on this team will step up between now and tomorrow morning when we hit the field again, and have a much better day than what it was today. Just too sloppy and not enough urgency out there today for a Tuesday practice. Tuesday practices are really, really, really hard around here because gamedays and games are really, really hard. Got some guys I think that just kind of got through, tried to get through today and didn’t try and get better today, necessarily.

“And again, not everybody. There were some good things, I was watching some of the practice tape before we came in here. But overall as a whole nowhere good enough to beat a really good team on Saturday night.”

Time is running short for the Gamecocks to get it together. They’ll kick off against the Tar Heels on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET with a national broadcast on ABC.