What Shane Beamer said in his Sunday evening teleconference

One day after South Carolina picked up a 31-6 win over Kentucky, head coach Shane Beamer spoke with the media during his Sunday teleconference. Here’s what he had to say.

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— Really proud of the team to go on the road against a really good team in Kentucky and play as hard and physical as they did. It was a fun tape to watch.

— Special teams was critical in this game. Covering kicks was a focal point. Kentucky had three drives that started inside the 20 after kickoff. Kai Kroeger also controlled field position with his punts.

— Got a lot of work to do, that’s the exciting thing. You watch the tape and realize there’s still a lot to get better at.

— Offensive players of the game: Torricelli Simpkins III, Mazeo Bennett, LaNorris Sellers

— Defensive players of the game: TJ Sanders, Nick Emmanwori

— Special teams players of the game: Kai Kroeger, Colin Bryant

— Scout team offense player of the week: Dante Reno

— Scout team defense player of the week: King-Demenian Ford

— Scout special teams player of the week: Jawarn Howell

— Gamecock MVP: Justin King

— Kentucky’s defense makes it really tough on you. They’re really sound and well-coached. At the same time, there were some disappointing protections and they need to run the ball better. Some of the hits Sellers took in the backfield came down to not getting the ball thrown away quick enough or just getting beat. Not all on the offensive line.

— Continued to mix it up on the perimeter and down hill in the run game. There was a lot of physicality they ran and blocked with as the game went along. They were at their best in the second half and fourth quarter.

— Was on the plane last night when he found out about GameDay coming to Columbia. Spoke to his wife about what she had heard. Found out as they were getting ready to land.

— It’ll be huge from a recruiting stand point to be in the spotlight on Saturday. There were already a lot of recruits coming to the LSU game. No disrespect to any of the other games, but SC-UK was the main option at 3:30 yesterday. There were a lot of eyes on them. After yesterday, there were a lot more that they heard from with recruits. It’ll be big for the city but also in recruitment. This will hopefully be the first of many times GameDay will be here as long as he’s at South Carolina.

— Wanted to rely more on the four-down defense. Get four defensive linemen to go up against Kentucky’s OL. They ran three-down last year but wanted to change it up this time around.

— The linebackers played really well. It was good to see Mo Kaba back in there. Fred Johnson will continue to get better. Bangally Kamara made some plays as well as the rest of the LBs. It was great to see those guys get in there and get some work.

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— Got a lot of good receivers. Still trying to figure out who’s going to separate themselves. He knows everybody wants Nyck Harbor to get in and make plays. But they’re trying to get that whole group going. Knows they’ll continue to get better.

— As for the next step in progression on offense, wants to continue to make plays in the passing game. Made some big plays with different concepts against Kentucky. Need to be able to keep doing that. Two of the team’s explosive passes came on third and long. So they’ve got to be able to protect up front. The OL did a great job. Most of the pressures they gave up were QB or TE. Need to run the ball better especially going up against better defenses. Waiting for two, three or four WRs to take this thing and go. Feels good about Brown and Bennett as the top two WRs right now. Waiting for who else will step up.

— Juju McDowell was good in the punt return game. Made good decisions and got what he could. He did a good job. On kick return, he thought he had an opportunity to make some plays. Should have gotten more yards. Likes the energy and competitive spirit he brings.

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