South Carolina coaches stress importance of strong November finish

The month of November has been good to Shane Beamer in his tenure as the Gamecocks head coach. After a victory last Saturday against Texas A&M, South Carolina improved to 9-4 in November games under Beamer. 

While they’re 15-17 across all other months, the Gamecocks have played their best football when it matters. That’s not something that’s lost on the coaches. 

“Last week, we said ‘they remember November’, and they do,” Shane Beamer said. “It wasn’t just ‘they remember November 2nd’, it’s what you do the whole month as well…they’ll remember what we do throughout this month.”

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Starting with Beamer’s first year at the helm in 2021, November has generated headlines. His first game in the month? A 40-17 drubbing of a Florida team that came in as 21-point favorites against the Gamecocks. 

Just two weeks later, the team was facing an uphill battle to get to a bowl game. That’s when Jason Brown cemented himself as a Columbia legend with a three-touchdown performance in a win against the Auburn Tigers. Sitting at 5-5 with a tough game against Clemson still to play, South Carolina fell behind by 14 points early. From that point on, Beamer’s bunch outscored the Tigers by a 21-3 margin to secure bowl eligibility. 

In 2022, mid-November looked bleak after a 38-6 loss to Florida and two top-ten opponents left on the schedule. But in one of the most magical two-week runs in Gamecock football history, South Carolina made history. First up, a date with No. 5 Tennessee and a record-setting offense. 

When the smoke cleared, however, it was South Carolina’s offense that set the records that Saturday night. The Gamecocks won 63-38, the most points in a conference game for the team in the 21st century. Spencer Rattler tossed six touchdowns, and Juice Wells recorded 177 yards receiving. The pyrotechnics team ran out of fireworks by the end of the night. 

The following week against Clemson, South Carolina entered as underdogs again. They had lost seven straight to their rivals prior to the game. Beamer and Co. made sure the streak didn’t reach eight. Rattler again had a stellar day through the air, passing for 360 yards. A Mitch Jeter field goal with 10:54 to go in the fourth put the Gamecocks up, and they wouldn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way. 

Last season, South Carolina’s bowl hopes were looking bleak again entering November. A loss to Texas A&M had dropped the team’s record to 2-6. But right when the clock turned to the eleventh month, the Gamecocks rallied. Four home games in a row were on the schedule: Jacksonville State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Clemson all awaited. 

The Gamecocks won the first three in the group of games by a combined score of 102-48. However, after a botched play on offense on their first play led to a Tigers touchdown, they fell to their rivals. 

Three of four November losses under Beamer have come to teams with the Tigers moniker. Against non-Tigers teams in November, South Carolina is 6-2. 

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This year, the Gamecocks are led by an elite defense heading into the month of November. Collecting turnovers has been a point of emphasis: South Carolina is T-1st in the SEC with 2.3 takeaways per game. Gifted with a strong front line, they’re 4th nationally in sacks per game with 3.9. 

“Anyone can play well in October or September. Really, you’ve got to really do a good job in November and finish strong,” Clayton White said. “I think our guys understand, one week at a time, one day at a time.” 

Looking ahead in the month, South Carolina still has games against Vanderbilt, Missouri, Wofford, and Clemson in November. ESPN’s FPI gives the Gamecocks a >50% chance to win every one of those games besides the rivalry against Clemson. 

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