Recap: Shane Beamer's weekly press conference
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer met with the media to preview Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. Here’s what he had to say:
–Big challenge with Vanderbilt. Mentions the Dores have already played Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia. Played Ole Miss close in the first half and fought back against Missouri. Have some talented players and thinks Clark Lea has done a “phenomenal” job with his team. They’re recruiting to a certain size. Playing hard, well-coached and presents a lot of challenges. Had a week off to get ready for this one too. Present a ton of issues and a big challenge going on the road to Nashville.
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–There are a lot of bumps and bruises, which is expected. No one right now that is “definitely out” but guys who are questionable. Hopefully they can stay healthy and into Saturday.
–After every game, they self-scout. Try to connect with coaches in the non-conference and did that during the off week. Some of the communication with coaches from non-conference teams alerted them to some tendencies. A couple were “concerning.” They had a third and two in a bunch set and Missouri was signaling pass. Try to change up some calls but players can here that.
–Have to look at rolling Spencer Rattler out and changing the launch points. Mentions again MIssouri is a really good defense and sometimes you get beat. Have to help Rattler some getting him out of the pocket. Missouri was going to put South Carolina in some disadvantageous situations but that happened far too many times Saturday.
–Said calling coaches isn’t a new thing. Mentions when he was a GA, he spent a lot of time on the phone with GAs from other schools trying to get scouting reports on upcoming matchups. Typically, they talk to those non-conference teams that aren’t on the schedule for the foreseeable future like Georiga State or Charlotte or mentions could talk to Arkansas since they don’t play for a while.
–Teams that look to the sideline, sometimes they may change a play or do dummy calls to make it look like they’re changing it. Spencer Rattler could look to the sideline and they could opt to not change things. Always have to smart about what they’re doing in that regard.
–Asked about election day, it’s certainly something they want to encourage guys to do. Last year they had a speaker come in before to talk about the election, voting rights, etc. This year the football team has a Zoom meeting Monday before election day. Wants them to have the chance to vote if they can.
–Said if he felt changing a coach’s role was the best thing for this team in-season he would. Said the best thing to do is get better with the way they are right now. They have to coach better, play better. It’s a combination. As bad as it looked Saturday, he sees a lot of plays out there to be made. Every week they look back at why they didn’t get it done. That starts with him and they have to look how they’re teaching them and give guys a chance to make plays in a game and be successful.
–Asked about Satterfield’s performance, said when things aren’t going well it’s always the head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback shouldering the blame. Said Satterfield, Clayton White and Pete Lembo all feel like they can be better. Each week is a different week. Have done some good things on offense this year. They’re moving into November now and need to continue to be better.
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–Said they can’t afford to look too far ahead. It’s week to week. He didn’t even mention getting to bowl eligibility this week. They have to go up and play their best game and what it’s going to take to win this week. Need to focus on the process. Knows they have a chance to progress and be a “really, really good football team.” Have to put all three phases together and do it more consistently than Saturday night.
–Thinks Spencer Rattler is a better athlete than people give him credit for and would like to see him run a little bit more. Ran in a touchdown then had a 10-yard gain before fumbling. The staff trusts him to run the ball. But as the team’s QB, don’t want to see the QB take unnecessary hits. Most have been scrambles but they have called some designed runs (zone reads, QB draw, etc.) for him. Vandy has two QBs to prepare for and any time there is a running quarterback it’s a challenge. Said if you have a running quarterback (Doty, Joyner) it’s fewer carries for South Carolina’s backs. Always trying to generate yards and present challenges for defenses.
–Jaheim Bell needs to be more on the field than he was this week. The two talked for 30 minutes Sunday and that’s on Beamer. When talking about personnel, said the same five linemen are on the field, Rattler is on the field and everyone wants Lloyd on the field. That leaves four spots for other players. Put Bell on the field then folks start to ask why other playmakers aren’t on the field. Said they talk each week what coverage they anticipate in 10/11/12 personnel. Trying to form a game plan from that and put calls/plays in for that to take advantage. But they still want to put the best players out there. Says they haven’t done a good enough job of it. Can’t be down 17-0 after running just 11 offensive plays.
–Lack of execution is frustrating. Had a lot of plays against Missouri that were called and weren’t executed like they were in practice during the week. That can be in all three phases. They were just “a little off, for whatever reason.” Said that falls on him. They look at that and where the disconnect could come. They look at how they teach it, how they rep it to make sure it’s second nature. They’re not doing too much offensively. Running a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Have to continue to look at why they didn’t execute.
–Younger backs have to continue to get more of a look with Lloyd and CBS being banged up at times. Running back is a physical position so they have to keep backs fresh so young guys are getting reps in practice. Those guys are continuing to get better.
–Missouri did a good job moving the pocket, getting to the edge and throwing verticals down the field. Missouri wanted to protect the quarterback and that’s the way Vanderbilt plays. They do a great job throwing RPOs and have some receivers that can cause issues. A lot of them are RPOs and exploiting things in man coverage. You have to force them into straight passing situations and continuing to find ways to affect the quarterback. That means hitting him but batting balls down and getting hands in passing lanes. Have done a good job of that so far this year.
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–Corey Rucker is done for the season and will be done. Hopefully will be ready for spring ball.
