What Shane Beamer said in his Tuesday press conference previewing Clemson

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the Gamecocks’ upcoming matchup against Clemson on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say.

— Thankful for the opportunity to get to coach in this game. This one is right there at the top. So fortunate to be a part of this rivalry. Knows how much it means to this state.

— Dabo Swinney has done awesome job with Clemson this year. Has a lot of respect for the way they didn’t listen to all the noise after losing to Georgia in the season opener. They’re playing their best football right now. Ton of respect for Swinney as a person, coach and human being.

— Clemson is a great football team. Cade Klubnik is playing the best football of his career. Phil Mafah is a load. He can hurt you inside and out. They ride him and rightfully so. Defensivley, they have an amazing defense every year. They are strong on the line of scrimmage. The linebackers are really good. They’re really good with the way they are able to move those guys around.

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— Thinks the players have been good with the first practice back this week in preparation for Clemson. They addressed a little bit with them being out in the wild for the next two days before coming back for practice. This morning was like any team meeting with introducing Clemson and what they need to do to win the football game. This game is magnified because of what they’ve done.

— Sure both teams are ready emotionally for this game. You have to keep your routine throughout the week, which is a little different this week because of the class situation. The emotions are part of it. It’ll be an emotional game throughout. There will be an electricity in the air. It’s much different and more fun than last year. This is going to be a yearly occurrence. They’re not going anywhere. A battle of ranked Carolina vs. Clemson is going to be a yearly occurrence. Everybody better get used to it.

— This game will be different for LaNorris Sellers as opposed to what he’s faced before this season. The crowd will be into it this weekend. This will be different. It’ll be the loudest crowd they’ve played in. All of them need to execute and play well to where the crowd doesn’t become a factor. He knows Sellers is excited for this game.

— Thinks it makes sense being the Palmetto Bowl being in the Palmetto state. They talk about this being another trophy game. Likes the name but it’s just Carolina-Clemson to him.

— CFP talk doesn’t come up. Not that the players aren’t talking about it, they know. But they addressed it a few weeks ago and worried about what they can control. This game is no different. None of it matters if you don’t win on Saturday. Everything else will take care of itself.

— There’s one thing he doesn’t like about the CFP format. Bowl games are awesome. Doesn’t like the fact that if you’re playing in the first round of the CFP, you don’t get to go to a bowl game. His advice is to not lose in the first round and you get to go to a bowl game.

— You see some similarities in Klubnik and Sellers with how they can get out of the pocket. There’s a lot of plays where Klubnik comes out of a sack and throws a 50-yard touchdown pass. His ability to get out of trouble is impressive. He’s grown a lot as a passer.

— “We’ll see” on injuries.

— You hear about the rivalry year round. It’s awesome being in this state and this being the primary game. Loves the aspect of there not being pro teams in this state. Wherever you go, you’re surrounded by Gamecocks and Tigers. Loves that. Whenever he goes into a local CVS near him, a lady that’s a Clemson fan gives him the run down on Clemson. He actually FaceTimed Swinney while with the lady from CVS last year. You can’t help but hear about it. That’s what makes rivalries great.

— Clemson’s Antonio Williams has really developed as a receiver. He can make people miss and is really dangerous as a punt returner. He has South Carolina’s attention as a real threat.

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— You’ve got to be careful about making this game too big. Sometimes that can take you away from what is important. The team that plays well on Saturday is the one that will win on Saturday.

— There’s a fine line between caring about this game and treating it like another game. The cool thing about this rivalry is that it’s in all sports. Here, it’s a real big deal in any sport. It doesn’t take long for any new arrival to learn how important this rivalry is. This is one of the rivalry games are tuned into in his opinion.

— You’ve gotta be able to tackle well against Mafah. He’s big and can run you over. Have to get him to the ground. Takeaways will be huge in this game. Clemson doesn’t turn the ball over. So for South Carolina, they have to knock the ball out, force interceptions and errant throws. That gets them off schedule. But it’s not just Mafah. The receivers can do it all, too.

— This is a regular week for South Carolina. It’ll be the same schedule as far as football goes. Tomorrow will be normal routine. Thursday morning will be practice. They’ll finish up around 11:30 that morning. The players are free after that until Friday. It’ll be the same as normal. A lot of guys usually stay here and go to a teammates house or go to their position coaches house for Thanksgiving. They’ll be back in here on Friday to start the normal routine.

— You look at every game Clemson has played this season and break it down. Points out The Citadel did a great job running the ball agains them, which they look at elements from.

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