Shane Beamer describes how South Carolina has adjusted to current injury situation

To put it lightly, the injury bug has hit South Carolina hard this season.

The Gamecocks have been without starters and impact players on both sides of the football for much of the year. On offense, South Carolina has been without one of its top wideout weapons in Juice Wells.

There also have been an unprecedented number of injuries along the offensive line, from starters like Cason Henry and Vershon Lee to young depth pieces like Markee Anderson.

“It’s certainly concerning when you have that many injuries at one position,” Shane Beamer said. “I’ve never in all my years of coaching been around a year where you’ve had that many injuries at one position.”

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The same could be said for South Carolina’s defense. Linebacker Mo Kaba, returning from a major knee injury suffered last season, was once again lost for the year due to a knee injury suffered against North Carolina.

Nick Emmanwori was injured on the Gamecocks’ first defensive series of the season but has since returned. TJ Sanders and Stone Blanton, both starters on the defensive line, have also dealt with knocks here and there.

As a result, South Carolina has been forced to make some adjustments because of its injury situation.

Beamer said the biggest challenge he faces with these adjustments is finding a balance between playing physically and preventing injuries.

“As a head coach, I struggle with It. I think about it a lot – just what we do in practice,” Beamer said. “Yes, we need the ‘good on good’ work, which we did some of that today – ones versus ones. And good on good, and let’s go play ball. We did a lot of that today, but you have to be smart with how much you’re doing it.”

This has affected the way the team conducts scout team work to prepare for opponents as well. Beamer said he often does not put his starters up against the scout team during these practice sessions. During this week’s preparations for Texas A&M, though, players from other positions have taken snaps at offensive line because there are not enough personnel there.

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“When you’re down on linemen like we are, it’s really impossible to do that because you got to have enough linemen over there with the offense to do what you need to do from an offensive standpoint, which you’re taking guys that are typically maybe over there on the scout team,” Beamer said. “Today, for example, our left guard and left tackle on the scout team were Lukas Vozeh and Kam Sandlin. They’re tight ends. And they’re trying to show Tonka and Boogie and those guys what it’s going to be like on Saturday.”

Beamer said he has also consulted with professional coaches for advice on how to manage injury situations like these.

“I called two NFL head coaches that I have good relationships with and just talked to them about that because you do have a smaller roster (in the NFL),” Beamer said. “We’ve got a lot of coaches on our staff that have spent time in the NFL, either as a player or a coach, so you can talk to them also.”

Along with these adjustments, players up and down the roster have adopted a “next man up” mentality, filling holes in the depth chart left by injured teammates. In many cases, the Gamecocks have turned towards true freshman to produce on Saturdays.

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Beamer said these freshman, some of whom are now starters, have remained unfazed despite their increased roles. He added that they are all well-equipped to handle the SEC’s toughest environments.

“Nyckoles (Harbor) played pretty close to 60 plays on Saturday, so you can argue that he’s like a starting receiver now. So if you count him, you count Kilgore. Judge Collier is our third corner, which he’s basically a starter if you’re our third corner. Tree, Trough – what is that, like five freshmen you’re starting? But none of those guys have I ever felt like, ‘Oh my God, this moment is too big for them,’” Beamer said.

Despite the team’s injury status, Beamer has faith that the Gamecocks will continue to see improvement as the season progresses. And that includes improvements in injured players’ health moving forward.

“Certainly, it’s my job as the head coach to always look at how we do things and how we can be better, without a doubt. But I got great confidence and belief in everybody that’s in this building and the roles their responsible for.”

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