Shane Beamer: 'We're beat up, to say the least'
South Carolina did not have the start to its 2023 football season that it wanted in Saturday night’s 31-17 loss to UNC and to make matters worse several key Gamecock starters and reserves exited the game early with injuries and did not return.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke on his teleconference Sunday night and gave the latest on several of those players.
“Injury-wise, we’re beat up, to say the least,” Beamer said. “Guys that didn’t finish the game last night were Nick Emmanwori. I would say he is questionable this week. Juice Wells I would say is questionable this week. Cason Henry will be out this week. He’s probably going to be out for a while. And Mo Kaba will be out for a while. And out of respect for him, I’ll comment more on that as we get into the week as well. So had some critical injuries last night. That was evident. And we have to overcome it. Got a young team that has to continue to get better, and they will.”
[Win two FREE tickets to South Carolina vs. Furman from 107.5 The Game! 🏈]
Additionally, Beamer gave the latest on wide receiver Ahmarean Brown, who played most of the game but exited in the second half as well as freshman offensive lineman Markee Anderson, who is listed as a backup on the depth chart but did not make the trip to Charlotte.
“Markee had a little bit of a setback late in the week that prevented him from (traveling) — he was going to travel, was going to be the backup, had a little bit of an injury in practice,” Beamer said. “I’d say Markee is questionable for this week, and Ahmarean I would say is probable.”
Emmanwori, the Gamecocks’ leading tackler last season, left on the first defensive drive of Saturday night with a hamstring injury.
A visibly frustrated Emmanwori tried to return to the contest a drive later, but was clearly not himself physically and ultimately had to leave the game for good.
Top 10
- 1Trending
Kyle McCord
Historically miserable night ends with self-sack
- 2
Paul Finebaum
Loss will have Bama singing R.E.M. classic
- 3New
Isaiah Bond out
Texas WR expected to miss Saturday’s game at No. 25 Vanderbilt
- 4
CFB Best Bets
Picks for weekend's biggest games
- 5
USF MBB coach dies
USF men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim dead at age 43
Wells missed most of preseason camp with a foot injury he suffered during the summer but was cleared to play during the lead-up to Saturday’s game. Wells played in just 17 snaps before exiting early and did not return.
[Win a Spencer Rattler-autographed football]
Henry missed all of the spring with a knee injury before returning to full-go early in preseason camp and then winning the starting right tackle job. Making his first career start against the Tar Heels on Saturday, Henry exited after just four plays after getting rolled up from behind and suffering a lower-body injury.
Kaba also missed the spring while rehabbing a knee injury. He tore his ACL in Week 2 against Arkansas last season and was making his first return to game action. He played some early special teams snaps and one snap on defense before exiting the game early.
Brown played 40 snaps in the game, according to PFF.
South Carolina returns to the practice fields on Tuesday in preparation for its home opener Saturday against Furman at Williams-Brice Stadium.
