What Shane Beamer said after South Carolina's massive win over Texas A&M

Following South Carolina’s 44-20 win over No. 10 Texas A&M, head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media after the game on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say.

— A&M is really good. They knew it was going to be a challenge. Having the bye week helped. Thought the offensive staff did a good job of putting together a plan.

— Thanks the fans for showing up and showing out. Weren’t able to finish in some of the other games but they showed up tonight and got the win. That place was rocking. So happy for the fans.

— So happy for the players, especially for the seniors. The disappointment of finishing 5-7 last year could’ve led to those players leaving. But they hung in there for nights like this. Really happy for those guys.

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— Has great respect for Mike Elko and Texas A&M. You have to beat them when they’re at their best. They had to go and take it from them.

— A lot of talk about A&M. But there needs to be some freaking talk about the way South Carolina played on Saturday.

— Outside of USC’s, A&M’s defensive line is the best in the country. They are a good group over there.

— Told the players at halftime, what more could you want? In an SEC war, all tied at 20. Would find out where they are as a program in the second half. Outscoring A&M 24-0 in the second half is a huge statement.

— Going to celebrate this one but they’ll have a big challenge on the road next week at Vanderbilt. Can’t be patting themselves on the back. But what a night in Columbia. What a night in the state of South Carolina. What a night for everybody that is about Gamecock football.

— Mazeo Bennett has an upper body injury. They’ll find out the extent of it tomorrow. But he was dancing and celebrating in the locker room.

— A&M is really good. They knew it was going to be a challenge. Having the bye week helped. Thought the offensive staff did a good job of putting together a plan.

— When they’re playing in all three phases like that, they are one of the best teams in the country. They didn’t do anything different personnel wise. It was getting back to work and building off what they did in Oklahoma.

— Thought they did a good job of lining up and Sellers getting to the line of scrimmage and getting themselves in the most advantageous play. There was a mindset of enough is enough against Oklahoma. The offensive line was that way this week.

— Gratitude is the word he would use to describe the feeling of this win after coming up short. Grateful for the players and how invested they are.

— They talked about all week playing winning football. They have their plan to win every week, which never changes. But he gives them two to three things every game for the players to build on and prepare to do. This week it was tackling and breaking tackles.

— They didn’t play enough winning football in the close losses they’ve had this year. They did some things that weren’t winning football tonight but they had a lot of things that were winning football plays to win this game.

— Sellers is special. He just continues to get better. When they had those tough losses against LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama, he was inexperienced. He just continues to get better. Saw him look really good in practice over the last few weeks. This is who he is.

— Knew they had the better quarterback in this game and Sellers played like that tonight.

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— Appreciates Rocket Sanders coming here. Just continues to work. He’s glad Sanders is a Gamecock. He’s a really great young man.

— Great line of scrimmage domination on the two 4th and 1 stops. That’s big. Just guys making plays and getting off blocks.

— Didn’t say a word to Sanders about his fumble. He knew. But that was a really physical defense they played. It was a moment where it was like just don’t do it again. Those are going to happen. They talk about having each other’s backs. And they did.

— Told the team in the locker room this is a great start to remembering November. But they’ve got a lot of work to do still. They’ve got a big challenge in Nashville next Saturday. But for the team, it’s about continuing to get better. There’s a lot of reasons why they continue to get better. But it better not be the pinnacle.

— Thought Clayton White and the defensive staff did a really good job at halftime. They tweaked some things in the second half. They had some personnel groupings. But thought White and the staff came in there and did some good things. They kind of did what they’ve been doing and let the guys go make plays.

— Any time they’re able to take the ball down and score, they’ve been pretty good when they score first. They played good complimentary football. Told the team they got A&M right where they want them. They started out strong in the second half. Proud of the way the guys finished.

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