Shane Beamer addresses injuries before Saturday's opener
South Carolina will be without one of its impactful receivers Saturday night against Georgia State.
Shane Beamer, speaking at his weekly call-in show, updated the Gamecocks’ injuries two days before South Carolina kicks off.
In it, he mentioned Corey Rucker would not play in Saturday’s game. The hope, Beamer said, is to have him availabile next week.
Rucker has been injured for a good portion of preseason camp and it seems likely Rucker won’t be on the field against Georgia State.
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He’s coming off his best season yet with career highs in catches (59), yards (826) and touchdowns (9).
Rucker, if healthy, would be in the receiver rotation and is listed as the backup behind Ahmarean Brown and Dakereon Joyner in the slot.
When he committed, Rucker was tabbed as an immediate impact guy after a good couple seasons at Arkansas State. In two seasons there he caught 75 passes for 1,279 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Beamer mentioned Christian Beal-Smith is “questionable” for Saturday while Kai Kroeger punted some both Wednesday and Thursday in practice.
Beal-Smith, he said, practice the most on Tuesday but has been more limited for the Gamecocks the last two days.
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Beal-Smith has been limited in camp with a foot injury. If he does play, he will have a chance to fit heavily into the Gamecocks’ running backs rotation.
He’s listed currently as the backup running back behind MarShawn Lloyd alongside Juju McDowell.
Beal-Smith is in his first season with the program, transferring after a quality career at Wake Forest.
In four seasons, Beal-Smith rushed for 1,871 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and 14 scores. He also caught 21 passes for 128 yards.
With Kroeger, he’s easily the Gamecocks’ most veteran specialist. He’s coming off a foot injury, but Kroeger has started the last two seasons at punter.
Over his 23 games played, Kroeger is averaging 43.1 yards per punt with 31 of his 98 downed inside the 20-yard line.
He’s listed as a co-starter at both punter and holder.
South Carolina opens its season Saturday night against Georgia State with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
It will be televised on ESPN Plus.
