Shane Beamer admits even he's been surprised by Dylan Stewart's strong play as freshman

South Carolina EDGE Dylan Stewart has taken college football by storm as a true freshman just two games into his collegiate career. A 6-foot-6, 248-pound pass rusher who’s gone viral on social media for his freakish athleticism and ability to wreak havoc on offenses all before his 19th birthday this Saturday.

Stewart was a highly touted high school recruit, a five-star prospect ranked the No. 3 EDGE for the 2024 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking. But even his head coach Shane Beamer admitted that he didn’t expect for Stewart to start his career off this strong.

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“I don’t know if I expected it this quickly,” Beamer admitted Friday on The Pat McAfee Show. “We knew he was really talented when we recruited him. But then when he got here and he was able to go through spring practice. I mean you get into spring practice and you realize pretty quickly this guy’s pretty special. And then watching him over the summer, the way he developed, and then he had a great preseason.”

In just two games, Stewart has recorded 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, six total tackles, two forced fumbles, and two quarterback hurries. All while looking like a player who will definitely have the opportunity to play on Sundays in the pros.

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But despite how exciting Stewart has been in the early stages of his college career, Beamer is maybe more excited about how much he and some of his other teammates can continue growing and reaching an even higher ceiling than they’re achieving right now.

“We got a lot of other really good players in that defensive end, EDGE room with him,” Beamer added. “I don’t know if I expected him to do what he’s done the first two weeks and there’s a lot to continue to improve on. That’s what’s exciting about him and the rest of our team is we can be a lot better than what we showed last week and him included.”

Stewart and the young Gamecocks team getting even better is scary news for the remainder of the SEC this season and beyond. Fresh off of a dominant 31-6 win over Kentucky last weekend. But they’ll face their tallest task of the season this Saturday when they host No. 16 ranked LSU. Especially Stewart as he squares off with two of the best offensive linemen in the nation, Will Campbell and Emery Jones.