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‘It’s great to be wanted’: Beamer shares excitement of going to Gator Bowl

By Jack Veltri

When South Carolina plays in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl later this month, it will be a full-circle moment for Shane Beamer.

This will be Beamer’s second bowl game as the Gamecocks’ head coach. Coincidentally, his father, Frank Beamer, coached in the 1994 Gator Bowl with Virginia Tech — his second bowl as head coach.

“He went up against a freshman quarterback at Tennessee by the name of Peyton Manning — it didn’t fare well,” Beamer said. “I hope we don’t face the next coming of Peyton Manning in that one. But that was actually in Gainesville at Florida’s stadium because they were building the new Gator Bowl or the new stadium in Jacksonville for the Jaguars.”

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That wasn’t Beamer’s only memory, though. He even landed a coaching gig while Georgia was in Jacksonville in 2016.

“Kirby (Smart) had just gotten the job. Georgia was playing in the Gator Bowl. And flew down the morning of the game because Kirby was down there to watch Georgia play,” Beamer said. “Interviewed with him that morning. Then he went to the game and hung out at the hotel til the game was over then hooked back up with him.”

Beamer coached tight ends and special teams with the Bulldogs for two seasons. Then he joined Oklahoma until 2020 when he returned to South Carolina.

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The Gamecocks haven’t played in the Gator Bowl since 1987, when they were an independent school and lost to LSU, 30-13. Getting to return to the bowl game is an exciting opportunity for all involved, Beamer said.

“I know our fan base is excited about a new venue, a new location to be playing in, a new bowl game as well,” he said.

College football teams around the country found out where they would play Sunday. It took longer for the Gamecocks to learn of their destination because many bowl sites wanted them.

Before even finding out where they would play, Beamer took to Twitter to share his excitement about the program.

“Proud of the progress we’ve made in 2 seasons,” he tweeted. “Know a lot of the bowls are excited about @GamecockFB too.”

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After learning the team’s fate, Beamer stood by what he said Sunday morning.

“It’s great to be wanted, and we were,” Beamer said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then.”

With South Carolina in the Gator Bowl, it will have to prove why it was heavily desired. The Gamecocks will face a tough opponent in No. 21 Notre Dame.

Things couldn’t have started worse for the Fighting Irish, with opening losses versus Ohio State and Marshall. After that, they turned it around and won eight of their final 10 games.

“I know this one’s going to be right at the top as far as excitement about the game,” Beamer said. “Two nationally ranked teams that have had really great moments throughout the season, as well.”

The No. 19 Gamecocks will play Notre Dame at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville on Dec. 30. Kickoff begins at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.

While Beamer hasn’t had a chance to sift through the rest of the bowl matchups, he knows South Carolina will have the only game in that time window.

“All eyes are going to be on us,” Beamer said. “What we’ve done the last couple of weeks, there’s a lot of excitement, like I said, nationally about us. And then certainly, we all know what Notre Dame brings from a TV rating standpoint. So it’s going to be an awesome time.”

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