How South Carolina has fared playing afternoon games under Shane Beamer
This Saturday, South Carolina and Ole Miss will play in the Gamecocks’ third afternoon contest of the season. ESPN’s game broadcast will begin at 3:30 p.m. (kickoff will be a few minutes later). Previously this fall, the Gamecocks played Old Dominion and Kentucky during that same time slot.
But how have the Gamecocks fared in the afternoon window during Shane Beamer’s entire tenure as the head coach? (For the sake of this article, the “afternoon window” includes games that start between 3:00 and 4:30 p.m.)
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In 2021, Beamer’s first year at the helm, Carolina went 2-1 in afternoon games. USC beat the Troy Trojans and Vanderbilt Commodores in tighter-than-expected games at home. They also lost on the road to the Missouri Tigers.
The following season, the Gamecocks played two regular season contests that began in the afternoon. An ugly home loss to Missouri knocked Beamer’s squad out of some top-25 polls. Two weeks later, a blowout loss to the Florida Gators followed in Gainesville. A very competitive Gator Bowl loss to Notre Dame capped off the 2022 season, meaning South Carolina football finished 0-3 in afternoon games in a year they went 8-5 overall.
In 2023, the Gamecocks had a strong start before falling to the rival Georgia Bulldogs in their first afternoon tilt. The infamous Florida collapse was the next 3:30 kick, and a sleepy performance in the “other Columbia” resulted in a third afternoon loss to Missouri in a row. Carolina finished 0-3 in afternoon matchups again in 2023.
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So far in 2024, the Gamecocks have taken the field twice during the afternoon window. They didn’t play well in week one against Old Dominion but pulled off the victory. Then, in week 2, garnet and black seemed to be the only colors left in the stands at the final whistle as South Carolina blew out the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington.
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Overall, 4-9 is Shane Beamer’s record in afternoon games. The number is better at home as the Gamecocks’ record is 3-2 in home afternoon games since 2021. Of the nine losses, though, only one (2022 vs. Missouri) saw the Gamecocks lose a game in which they were favored by more than two points. For what it’s worth, South Carolina won its last afternoon matchup with Ole Miss, a 31-24 affair in Oxford way back in 2008 during Steve Spurrier’s fourth year leading the program.
Based on the most recent broadcast announcements, the Gamecocks will play at least three more afternoon games before the 2024 season comes to a close. From November 9th to November 23rd, Carolina will play @ Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Wofford during that broadcast window. Nothing has been finalized for the annual rivalry game against Clemson, and a potential bowl game could be played anywhere from 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
