What Shane Beamer had to say after loss to North Carolina
After Saturday’s 31-17 loss to North Carolina, Shane Beamer met with the media to discuss what went wrong for the Gamecocks.
Here’s everything the third-year head coach had to say.
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Beamer, visibly frustrated, said the Gamecocks need to play better and have to coach better. They have to get a lot better, but he’s confident they will.
He pointed out a lot of guys didn’t finish the game. There were too many injuries to name and that it’s too soon to provide an update but will know more on Sunday.
Also frustrating to not be able to take advantage of scoring on turnovers. Everything that could’ve went wrong did go wrong. It wasn’t good enough. They had their chances but not good enough to win.
He called it ridiculous to allow a sack with a three-man rush near the end of the game. South Carolina’s offensive line gave up nine sacks in total. Beamer said all those guys will continue to get better.
Spencer Rattler gave them a chance. Can’t allow him to get hit like he did, played a hell of a game. But need to play better for him.
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Xavier Legette and Luke Doty had big games. Called Doty a leader and was proud of him. Felt the same way about Legette. Said he has so much confidence in him. Had a lot of 1-on-1 opportunities and went up and made big plays.
Thought the running game would’ve been better tonight but UNC’s defensive front was solid. Running game wasn’t good enough. Have to go back and see what the issues were. Didn’t put all blame on the offensive line. Starts with coaching and putting those guys in better positions.
He knew Jalon Kilgore would play a little bit tonight but ended up playing the whole game. Compared it to when Nick Emmanwori had to step up as a freshman last year. Thought the young guys got a lot better tonight that played in the secondary.
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The whole plan coming into tonight was to be active and disruptive when facing Drake Maye. Thought they’d be able to be more disruptive but it wasn’t good enough. Have to win their 1-on-1s and be able to pass rush. Defense did force some turnovers to give them a shot.
Onside kicks have kind of been a point of emphasis. Tried it last year and it needed improvement. So it’s been a point of emphasis for Pete Lembo and Mitch Jeter to work on. Saw UNC played 40 offensive plays in the first half and needed a spark. Talked with Clayton White and Lembo and they were both good with doing it. Beamer said Jeter did an awesome job.
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Believes the issues up front, both on the OL and DL can be fixed. Points out they have veteran guys that can play. However, he just needs to be able to rotate guys at linebacker. Thinks they’ll be fine defensively. Says UNC going 8-for-13 on 3rd down was pretty good. Have to grow up in a hurry and continue to get better.
Up next: The Gamecocks will head back to Columbia and get ready for their home opener against Furman next Saturday. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
