Final injury report before Vanderbilt game

South Carolina is relatively healthy but still entering Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt with plenty of bumps and bruises.

Speaking on his radio show Thursday night, Shane Beamer said the Gamecocks will have a player out, a few guys back into the fold and one with a question mark heading into the game.

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MarShawn Lloyd is the biggest name bit by the injury bug currently, having missed almost the entirety of the second half against Missouri with a thigh contusion.

Beamer said he’s doing “OK” and has progressed in practice. He mentioned they’ll see how he progresses as kickoff approaches.

Lloyd said during his press conference Tuesday he hoped to play and the contusion was not bad enough to where he couldn’t walk on it.

Beamer mentioned Terrell Dawkins practiced this week but wasn’t feeling well and won’t play Saturday. The hope is he’ll play next Saturday. Devonni Reed is “full speed” ready to roll, along with Brad Johnson.

South Carolina kicks off against Vanderbilt at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

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Shane Beamer breaks down how rest of offense can help Spencer Rattler

By Andrew Graham

The immense promise of Spencer Rattler and his recruiting ranking has yet to be fulfilled on a college football field, with the South Carolina quarterback struggling to find consistency and avoid mistakes in the Gamecocks passing offense. Similar issues plagued Rattler at Oklahoma prior to his transfer to Columbia.

But head coach Shane Beamer thinks there’s a lot the rest of the Gamecocks can be doing to help out Rattler. For one, the coaching staff can always look for better ways to deploy Rattler, Beamer said, and the rest of the offense can pick up slack, too.

“But certainly we’ve got to continue to help Spencer with protection and moving the pocket,” Beamer said about scheming things for Rattler. “And that’s every week, that’s not just last week. I knew going in to the game Missouri was going to be disruptive and was going to make some plays against our offense and gets us, unfortunately, in some negative yardage situations. And it happened too much. You give Missouri credit,  but you also look at being able to do things — running the ball, moving the pocket — we got the ball out of his hands quick. All those perimeter things, screens and RPOs the other night, and that’s how you get the ball out of his hands quick, as well.”

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Rattler can certainly improve his play — he ranks 95th nationally in passing efficiency, in the same ballpark as Pitt’s Kedon Slovis and Auburn’s Robby Ashford — Beamer identified line play as something in need of improvement.

South Carolina has allowed 19 sacks in eight games, to the tune of 2.38 sacks a game. Rattler has gone backwards for 125 yards on those sacks. As a team, the Gamecocks are tied for 86th nationally.

Beamer knows that no offensive line is going to win every single rep across the board, but clean pockets and consistent push up front are always helpful for a quarterback, Rattler included.

“Sometimes, you’re just — you’re gonna get beat. We’ve got a really good offensive line and sometimes, you know, you’re out there one-on-one against a really talented defensive end or defensive tackle, or linebacker or whoever it is, and the other team’s going to win,” Beamer said. “So we’ve gotta win our share of battles.”

There’s no doubt that Rattler still has the physical tools to get the job done, it’s just a matter of South Carolina pulling it together.

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