What Shane Beamer said after loss to Clemson
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media after a 16-7 loss to Clemson on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say.
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— Beamer comes in very disappointed with tears in his eyes. Congratulates Clemson. Heck of a performance by them to come out with a win. Gutty performance. Disappointing performance by us. Knew the turnover battle would be critical in this game. Two turnovers in first three plays was the worst possible start you could have. Proud of the way the guys fought back to tie it up in the first quarter. But not good enough to win in the end.
— Defense did its job in holding Clemson to field goals. But didn’t do enough to create more turnovers.
— Nowhere near good enough offensively. Couldn’t make enough plays. It’s going to be tough to win.
— Feel so crappy for the seniors to not finish the way they deserved. Proud of the men in the locker room.
— Got it to round 12 but couldn’t get it done in making a bowl game.
— When you look at statistics, we’re one of the worst teams at protecting the quarterback. Not all on the offensive line. Been able to protect the passer some but Clemson’s front seven is really good.
— In the entire month of October, defense didn’t create a takeaway. Not going to win when that happens.
— Thought a lot about going for it with 10 minutes to go. Wanted it to be less than seven yards to get. Had a chance to pin Clemson out by the cockpit. Felt like they could back them up and get a stop. When you’re 2-of-13 on third downs, it doesn’t give you much confidence.
— Defense was awesome. Kept making stops. Knew Clemson was going to come in and try to run the ball. Cade Klubnik is a good runner. They did a good job running the ball. Defense played well enough to win.
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— State of the program is strong as it’s ever been. Went through some lumps. Lost 12 guys to season-ending injuries. Not making excuses. But they have a great recruiting class coming in. Hurting bunch of players in the locker room. Certainly need to be better from an NIL standpoint.
— There’s a lot of teams that wouldn’t have been able to respond to the adversity SC faced all year.
— Hurts to see guys like Dakereon Joyner not get what they deserved and finish the right way.
— Didn’t help to have bad field position all night. Not ideal against Clemson’s good defense. It’s tough to drive the ball down the field on them.
— Clemson does what it does defensively. Made Rattler’s night really rough.
— Mario Anderson was fine after getting thrown down early in the game. Wanted to get back out there and play the next play.
— TJ Sanders was down for awhile tonight. Jalon Kilgore went down with a hamstring injury.
— Looking to get better moving forward. Will have recruiting meetings tomorrow. Meet with players on Monday. Will start recruiting on Friday.
— Didn’t do enough down the stretch offensively. Defense turned it around late in the year. Certainly have to be better in all three phases.
— Holding back tears talking about what these older players mean to him. Talked about in the team meeting yesterday that some of the guys were here when he got here back in 2021. They stayed. Easy thing to do was to leave. But they stuck with it.
— Will always remember the way this group fought. Great group of guys. Went through a lot this year. Kept hanging in there. Didn’t throw in the towel.
