Shane Beamer updates offensive progress after second scrimmage
Shane Beamer didn’t mince words after South Carolina’s first scrimmage, emphasizing the offense needed to play better.
Fast-forward a week, as Beamer recaps the second spring scrimmage, and his tone about the offense changed for the good.
“We talked last week about way too many turnovers on offense. They cut that to one on Saturday in the scrimmage with no fumbles,” he said. “One interception on a play Donovan Westmoreland, our freshman linebacker, made a heck of a break on during a quick-game throw.”
And it’s an offense that the Gamecocks need to drastically improve after a wildly up and down first season under Beamer and Marcus Satterfield.
The Gamecocks showed positive signs, especially near the end of the season, but it was far too inconsistent with injuries at the quarterback position piling up and struggles at every position.
But, South Carolina took steps to try and improve that over the course of the offseason. They brought in most notably quarterback Spencer Rattler but added some other portal and high school pieces around him.
Wake Forest’s Christian Beal-Smith, James Madison’s Antwane Wells and Georgia’s Lovasea Carroll all joined him along with Rattler’s former Oklahoma teammate, tight end Austin Stogner.
The only issue, as the Gamecocks finish spring practice this week, is not everyone is on campus and some guys are banged up.
Stogner won’t enroll until this summer after finishing classes at Oklahoma. Receiver transfer Corey Rucker will also join the team after spring. Add on to that both Jaheim Bell and Dakereon Joyner have dealt with nagging injuries.
“It’s a really good opportunity for those guys. But at the same time you look around and your MVP of the bowl game and the guy who caught two touchdowns in the bowl game are standing on the sideline and not practicing right now,” Beamer said.
“You’re missing those weapons. You don’t have Stogner here. You realize there’s not a full arsenal of guys out there.”
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Beamer talked some about South Carolina’s quarterbacks, most of which are younger players outside of Spencer Rattler.
The backup, as it sits four weeks into spring, is likely Luke Doty. Doty averaged 6.8 yards per attempt in an injury-riddled season last year where he only attempted 143 passes for the Gamecocks.
Outside of him, the two other scholarship quarterbacks—Colten Gauthier and Braden Davis—are working some with the second team too.
“They’ve all been mixing in with that second group in the scrimmage,” Beamer said. “They mix it up during practice. If you listed it technically on the depth chart right now Luke would be the second guy right now. But in our minds, all those guys are out there competing.”
Neither Gauthier nor Davis has seen extensive action in live games. Gauthier attempted one pass in a game while Davis is a true freshman at South Carolina this year.
Both have been live in scrimmages. Beamer said it’s still to be determined if they will be Saturday.
“They’ve done a good job with that. It’s been great for their development just getting rid of the ball,” he said. “Braden Davis has had two long runs in the last two scrimmages coming out of the pocket when he got some pressure and running a long ways. I think it’s great for their development.”
