Recapping Shane Beamer's Sunday night teleconference

Gamecock football head coach Shane Beamer gave some final thoughts on South Carolina’s road win against Vanderbilt during his Sunday teleconference.

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Beamer appreciated the fans for coming out to Nashville, said they saw a lot of Garnet and Black on both sidelines and in the end zone.

He’s proud of the team for getting bowl eligible and never well, There are a lot of teams with 3-5 wins, fighting like crazy to get a sixth win. After facing adversity on defense and starting 1-2, he’s proud of getting there in 9 games but “not satisfied.”

The team had “way too many” penalties. They have been a good and disciplined team this season, but it was not like them last night. It was

They had a lack of turnovers against a team that had been disruptive in creating turnovers. He liked the fast start, but didn’t like the finish. To score just 7 points in the second half was very disappointing, and didn’t like that they didn’t put the game away the last couple drives on offense.

Beamer said the team tackled poorly on defense and misfit some gaps that turned into some explosive runs. Overall, he’s pleased with some of the things that they did. It’s good to win a game on the road in the SEC, but they were able to coach the guys hard on a lot of the things to correct.

Spencer Rattler and Jaheim Bell were players of the game on offense. Beamer said it wasn’t easy for Jaheim to just change positions in the middle of the week.

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Jordan Burch was a Gamecock football player of the game on defense, said he was dominant. DQ Smith was the other player of the game. What he and Nick Emmanwori are doing is impressive, and they don’t come off the field as freshmen, Beamer said. Smith caused a fumble, had a sack, and was improved in pass coverage.

Darius Rush was a special teams player of the game along with Payton Mangrum, Kai Kroeger, and Tonka Hemingway.

Cason Henry, Donovan Westmoreland, and DJ Twitty were scout team players of the week.

USC came out of the game “pretty good” from an injury standpoint. They’re optimistic on MarShawn Lloyd, although he didn’t do much of anything on the practice field on Sunday night. Beamer said that some guys are banged up and not 100 percent, but it’s November and your body isn’t going to feel good playing in the SEC.

BJ Gibson is getting an MRI tomorrow on his hamstring, but wouldn’t say he’s doubtful or definitely going at this point. They’re optimistic he can “do something” this weekend.

Beamer also detailed more on how Gibson arrived at USC as a walk-on. He had been at Navy and was from the region and looking to transfer back. He played snaps previously and when Beamer saw him, he saw the size and length you look for at defensive back. Getting him to walk on was a “huge blessing.” Beamer said he’s a great young man who doesn’t really say anything but just tries to improve his craft.

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In terms of rotating so many defensive backs due to injuries last night: Cam Smith had a chest cold and wasn’t 100% in the second half, and the coaches have confidence in Marcellas Dial and Darius Rush. Devonni Reed was banged up, BJ Gibson got hurt in the game, Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith were playing every snap. Beamer credited secondary coach Torrian Gray for getting the guys ready and Beamer said multiple guys will have to play down the stretch.

On Stone Blanton and Bam Martin-Scott playing at linebacker, the thought was that the staff needed to continue to get them plays in the game. For one, they’re good players who can help, and secondly, it’s to spell Brad Johnson and Sherrod Greene and get them some rest. They felt Johnson and Greene had played too many snaps in some previous games. The staff trusts Blanton and Martin-Scott to know what to do because they’re smart.

Stone Blanton may be in the facility more than the coaches, Beamer said.

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Beamer was asked about specials teams coordinator Pete Lembo’s impact on the Gamecock football program: “He’s obviously phenomenal from a special teams standpoint.” Beamer said it’s so beneficial because Lembo doesn’t coach a position and can spend all of his time doing that. He’s able to interact with lots of different coaches on staff and players and develop relationships. Beamer can also bounce ideas off him since Lembo has been a head coach, too.

Beamer said the head coach chair “is lonely” because of the different things you deal with that people on the outside don’t understand. Lembo understands that. Lembo also does a lot of good things in recruiting and has opened up doors in the Northeast.

When Beamer was first hired, he met Darius Rush and thought to himself that there was “something different” about him. When Beamer was back in Oklahoma in the midst of the coaching change, Rush would call him just to check in and get to know him. Rush has worked “really hard” and Beamer is proud of his growth and development and a leader on the team.

Beamer was asked about declining the 10 second runoff in the Vanderbilt game. He talked with defensive coordinator Clayton White about it, and Beamer wanted to try to get the ball back. If the defense could get a stop and use the timeouts they had, they may not have had enough for a long drive, but they wanted at least make the opponent punt because of their punt pressure unit.

The offensive line has been really good “the majority of the season.” They weren’t, and nobody was, against Missouri. He didn’t think it was a one night thing, thinks they have been “really damn good” all year. They have continuity and have stayed healthy. Trai Jones started on Saturday night and played every snap of the game and continues to get better.

The staff feels like they have three starters at the corner position between Cam Smith, Darius Rush, and Marcellas Dial. Cam and Rush started on Saturday and all of them play. Marcellas is smart and can play different positions. On Saturday night, the team played with some six defensive back sets toward the end of the night.

Jaheim Bell looked “very natural” at running back and McDowell and Christian Beal-Smith did some really good things, too. They want to continue to get their best guys the ball and be creative, so it could mean that Bell could see some carries even with MarShawn Lloyd back in the fold.

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