Coach Beamer's weekly presser with injury report, quotes, notes, and videos of selected players included
Nov. 15, 2022/ VIDEOS COURTESY OF USC MEDIA OUTLET


Head coach Shane Beamer met with the media, Tuesday, as South Carolina enters the backstretch of the regular season. South Carolina is coming off a disappointing road trip, falling 38-6 to the Gators in Gainesville, Fl. The Gamecocks mustered just one score, a pass from Kai Kreoger to Dakereon Joyner on a fake punt. Otherwise, it was a day South Carolina and its fans would like to forget.

If South Carolina is going to recapture the momentum it built in winning five of six games between Sept. 24th and Nov. 5th, they’ll have to do it against the East’s rising power, Tennessee. The Volunteers (9-1) enter this weekend’s matchup ranked fifth by both the AP voters and the College Football Playoff committee


INJURY REPORT

Beamer is “hopeful” that running backs MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith will be able to play Saturday when Tennessee visits Williams-Brice Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 o’clock on ESPN. “Anybody that went down in the Florida game is fine, everybody practiced today,” Beamer said. “The only two guys who were limited in practice today that we are hopeful can play on Saturday would be MarShawn and CBS. Both of those guys were limited today in practice. Too early to say whether they’re definitely out or not. They both have told me they’re going to do everything in their power to play.

“We’ll see where things are. They did a lot of good stuff today, treatment-wise. We’ll see where they are tomorrow.

KEY QUOTES

Beamer: The defense must do a better job slowing down Tennessee's tempo offense coming out the gate than they did last year when the Vols jumped out to a 28-0 1Q lead.
Beamer: Many recruits will be in town this weekend and will take in the scenes of Paul Finebaum and crew at the Horseshoe, and hopes for a raucous home atmosphere for senior day on Saturday against Tennessee.
Beamer: Clarifying "find your joy" comments, stating he was NOT calling out the fans, but instead is open to criticism. Says he was telling fans to find positives, and not always focus on the negatives. Says there is no "chicken curse".
Beamer: Opening the press conference by expressing his thoughts and prayers for the UVA football team, and all those involved. Says his players approached him about honoring the victims, and that the team will wear a patch on their uniforms this wknd against Tennessee.

NOTES

Beamer on Improvement:
They take a step back and evaluate what went wrong and think of things they can do during the week to improve on that. Then figuring out solutions to stop this week’s opponent. Trying to not reinvent the wheel and continue to try and be better in what they’re doing without “wholesale changes” schematically week to week.
Beamer: seniors have a lot of great people. Last year’s group was certainly special but this group is more so. These guys didn’t have to come back. They stayed for a year but chose to stay for another year. He’s so happy for them. He’s sure they didn’t want to be 6-4 but still a lot they can accomplish this year. Says a lot they believed in him and the staff enough to come back. Then happy for guys like Zacch Pickens who came back and did nothing but improve the draft stock.
Beamer on being miss quoted: Goes back to Vanderbilt where he corrects some misconceptions on his comments that people think he was calling out the fanbase for criticism. Says they now have to get past the doom and gloom and find joy. Says he can take criticism and is open to criticism. Has dealt with criticism his entire life. Said he’s heard about curses since his time as an assistant coach and there’s “no dang curse.” Said this fan base has to get past waiting for something bad to happen. There wasn’t a lot of joy in Florida but he’s going to try to find the positives.
Beam on SEC Gameday being in town: Said this is everything that’s great about college football. Have SEC Nation in town, ESPN’s No. 1 crew, and a great group of recruits and pack out the Horseshoe Friday and then Saturday.
Beamer on his players: Want's to make sure guys don’t lose sight of what’s real and what’s not real. There’s a whole lot of work they’ve put in this season dating back to January. People on the outside haven’t been part of that. Have to make sure guys know the players and staff control what happens. Criticism from the outside is warranted, certainly, but make sure players are working and keeping their heads down. They’re judged on 12 Saturdays a year and there’s not an in-between between “really good” and “really bad.”
Beamer on special teams coach Lembo: Really important to keep Pete Lembo this offseason. Lembo knows how much he’s appreciated in the building. There’s a reason why Beamer actively pursued Lembo and only Lembo for the ST coordinator. Does a great job recruiting and on the field. What they’re doing from a special team's success is special. That creates momentum on the field during a game and then in the building during the week. They spend a lot of time on it and coach it well and players are engaged with it.
Beamer on balancing changing a coach’s role versus staying the course with a guy: Said it’s a week-to-week perspective. Each week it’s trying to continue elevate where they are in the current moment.

CAM SMITH GOING PRO

South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith is likely headed to the NFL after the 2022 season. Smith told reporters on Tuesday that Saturday’s contest against Tennessee will “more than likely” be his final game at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Westwood High School product is considered one of the top defensive backs eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. rated Smith as the No. 19 player overall and No. 2 cornerback in this year’s draft class.

“Smith’s ball skills stand out on tape,” Kiper wrote on Nov. 3. “He flips his hips in coverage, tracks the ball in the air and has the instincts to find it and make a play. ... Smith also has excellent arm length, which helps his ability to create deflections. He has a good feel in coverage and makes things look easy.” Smith has 19 tackles, six pass breakups, and an interception this season.

"USC FANS FIND SOME JOY"

A lot of fans took it wrong, misunderstood when Beamer said "USC fans find some joy" when he made the statement regarding fans’ the statement was in response to fans' possible reactions to MarShawn Lloyd not being able to play against Vanderbilt. He likened when quarterback Luke Doty got injured last year. “I’m sure (social media) was doom and gloom,” Beamer said after the Vanderbilt game. “We gotta get past that as a fan base, man. Find some joy.”

HERE IS THAT SEGMENT TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY'S PRESSER

“Somehow this has become a narrative, so I want to go back two or three weeks to after the Vanderbilt game. I believe there’s a misconception that I called out our fan base for criticism ... which could not have been further from the truth.

“For those of you that were in the room that night, and listened to the sound byte, I said there was a small portion of the fan base that when they found out that MarShawn Lloyd was not playing in the Vanderbilt game probably thought that it was over, that we didn’t have a chance to beat Vanderbilt. “I said it’s the same group or same mentality that when Luke Doty got hurt in August last year, so many people thought our season was going to go in the toilet after that. “I said that we have to get past that as a fan base as find some joy.

“I did not say that I’m not subject to criticism. I am certainly open to criticism. I’m a head football coach and I’m the leader of this program. So fire the criticism at me because certainly I can take it. I grew up the son of a head football coach. I understand what this chair entails. I dealt with criticism of my father growing up. I’ve dealt with criticism as an assistant coach. And now as a head coach you deal with criticism. “I get it. That’s part of the job. By no means was I calling out our fan base. “There’s an old adage, Murphy’s Law, if something bad is going to happen, it’s going to happen. I’ve been hearing about that since I was an assistant coach here at South Carolina, about curses and things like that. There’s no dang curse.

“What I was trying to say that night in Nashville was, we need to get past that negative mindset of waiting for something bad to always happen here and that something bad is right around the corner. That’s when I used the expression, find some joy. “I get it. With the way we played against Florida the other night, there wasn’t a lot of joy in that, nor do I expect people to find a lot joy in that. “But I’m also not going to be on an emotional roller coaster every week as the head football coach and the leader of this football program. I’m going to try find the positives in everything. “When we have an injury ... it’s the next-man up mentality, not ‘Oh my God, what are we gonna do right now because this guy is missing?’ That’s the message I was trying to make that night in Nashville. “Apparently it’s taken on this whole other narrative that Shane is criticizing the greatest fans in America, which is not the case.”

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