Quotes, quotes and more quotes: South Carolina-Georgia week

South Carolina finished up its media availabilities Wednesday afternoon with Shane Beamer, two coordinators and a handful of players speaking over 48 hours.

Here are some of the best quotes from the press conferences.

Shane Beamer

On belief South Carolina can beat Georgia: “I’d say our guys have a lot of belief. I told our staff on Sunday I don’t want to hear, ‘Anybody can beat anybody on Saturday. I don’t want to hear anybody talk about shocking the world and I don’t want to hear any person saying we just have to be better than them one Saturday and not on all 12.’

As soon as I walk out of the staff meeting I have texts from family members telling me the same thing. I’m like, jeez. There’s great belief in our program. I don’t have to rally in them to make them believe. They believe.

 They have confidence and they should. We’re a really good SEC football team. And we have really good SEC football players. A lot of players on this team Georgia wanted on their team. There are players on Georgia’s team we wanted on this team as well. We have belief every single week.”

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On his time with Kirby Smart at Georgia: “Kirby Smart made me a better football coach. That was a really, really beneficial two years to be with him. It was a great opportunity for me to, one, coach at a place like Georgia and live in a city like Athens.

But to come in and see the whole Nick Saban and Alabama process and see it implemented from day one. Kirby is taking over a program. I came in at the end of December right as he got hired right after we won our bowl game at Virginia Tech. to be able to see everything implemented in year one. That year was not easy.

We lost to Vanderbilt at home, we lost to Georgia Tech at home, we struggled to beat Nichols state at home. To see recruiting-wise and continuing to build that program to where in year two we won the Rose Bowl and played for a national championship. Seeing how he handled coaches and seeing how he handled the day-to-day stuff and the recruiting part of it and practice.

There are a lot of things we do here that are directly from things I took from my time at Georgia. Then there are things we don’t do. We do a lot of things differently…as far as this organization and how we structure stuff, a lot of it came from my time with Kirby. I’m certainly really appreciative of that and everything I learned from it.”

On Freddie Kitchens’ impact on South Carolina: “Freddie is a close friend. He’s someone I’ve known since 2004 when we were all in Starkville together on that first coaching staff with Sylvester Croom.

He’s been good and he’s been able to help the offensive staff and me. (Freddie’s) a great personality to have in this building. He’s been a good resource for our players too. The fact he’s been in the NFL for so long and has coached some high-profile players.

Being able to pull an offensive lineman aside or a tight end aside or a receiver aside or defensive back or whoever and just talk to them about things he sees. It’s good to have another set of eyes to help me or the other coaches with things we maybe miss.”

Coordinators

Clayton White on the Gamecocks’ nickel spot if Cam Smith can’t play: “Right now we’re just trying to work through some guys. We had Marcellas (Dial) play some nickel last week. He’ still available, which is great. I’m glad to have him. That’s why throughout fall camp and throughout the summer we trained about four guys to play certain positions. This is when you need it the most.”

White on Zacch Pickens: “That was one of the first times I’ve seen Zacch play 60 snaps as a defensive tackle. That’s a lot. He went from the beginning until the end and he didn’t want to come out. He never wants to come out. But he wanted to go back in and make a play.

He was coachable on the sidelines. There was some growth there, which you love to see in a senior and someone who’s trying to maximize his potential. He’s trying his best. And that was one of his better games as far as making plays in the backfield or line of scrimmage.”

Marcus Satterfield on South Carolina’s identity: “We’re going to do whatever it takes to move the ball and score touchdowns. What would I like my identity to be? I’d love to be in 12 or 13 personnel, huddle up, run about 58 plays per game, rush for 275 (yards) and throw for about 220.

Then win on third down and win in the red zone and go home and win games. But it’s not that easy. Like the bowl game, we have to be creative and find ways to win games. We understand we have to run the football, obviously, a lot more consistently to stay on the field longer and help our defense out. We’re going to do whatever we have to do to move the ball.” 

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Satterfield on what the offense does well: “I think we have some playmakers. I have to get our tight ends involved more in the pass game so they can show their skill set. I think we have a really good quarterback, obviously some good wide outs.

Our running backs have run the ball well when given the opportunity. They’ve done a really nice job, for MarShawn Lloyd last year to where he is this year catching the ball out of the backfield he’s been a weapon for us. I think continuing to develop and sharpen our tools and see where the season takes us.”

Players

Austin Stogner on offensive cohesion: “Just continue to practice hard, listen to the coaches. Eventually it’ll click. It’s our second game. of course there are going to be ups and downs. We haven’t truly found what we are in all aspects. We’re going to find it. It’s our second game together. We have time, but it’ll start clicking.”

MarShawn Lloyd on picking South Carolina over Georgia:  “Georgia was definitely one of my top three before coming here. I feel like South Carolina had everything I needed, everything I wanted. All the coaches and I needed with the people who could lead me into the right direction. I feel like the coaches were great (at Georgia) but South Carolina was the best for me for me after football and during football as well.”

Sherrod Green on his new role with Mo Kaba out: “It’s motivation for me, especially the fact I got hurt a year ago against Georgia. It’s like a bit of revenge for me. I definitely have a chip on my shoulder this week.”

Stogner on his comfort-level in South Carolina’s offense: “I’m understanding it a lot more. It’s one thing knowing what you have to do but it’s another thing where you know the whole scheme of things and where the ball is and why you’re running this route. I think I’m more and more starting to get that. I’m getting a better grasp on things, and everyone in this offense is. You can tell from last year to this year how this offense runs because people know the system more and why they’re running the route.”

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