‘We expected to win ... like we did’: Shane Beamer reacts to win over Florida
Shane Beamer’s phone was blowing up with messages from South Carolina football recruits after the Gamecocks’ 40-17 statement victory over Florida on Saturday night.
“Just peeked at my phone — so many text messages from recruits that weren’t here that wish they had been here, so excited about the future of Carolina football,” Beamer said after acknowledging an “incredible” group of recruits visited Columbia for the Florida game.
The Gamecocks were coming off a bye week after being throttled 44-14 by SEC West rival Texas A&M in College Station. Beamer said the last two weeks of practice had prepared the Gamecocks
“We expected to win this football game like we did,” Beamer said. “Nobody was shocked at how it went. We fully expected this tonight because of the way that we’ve prepared and practiced the last two weeks as well.
“Just so many competitive plays that guys made. I mean, wow. Offense, defense, special teams. That’s been the name of the game for the last two weeks, it’s just compete, compete, compete ... and you saw that.”
Beamer’s Gamecocks broke the Florida game open by halftime, heading into the locker room with a 20-point lead. South Carolina scored on every possession of the first half and scored 30 unanswered points by the time Dan Mullen’s Gators made it back to the end zone in the fourth quarter.
USC was dominant in almost every facet of the game, outgaining the Gators 459-340 in total yardage and out-rushing the prolific Florida running attack 284 yards to 82.
South Carolina’s 459 yards gained against Florida were its season-best mark, surpassing even the Gamecocks’ win over FCS Eastern Illinois in Week 1.
Quarterback Jason Brown looked confident and poised in his first career start at South Carolina. The transfer from FCS St. Francis (Pennsylvania) commanded the offense, completing 14 of his 24 attempts for 175 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Wide receiver Josh Vann was Brown’s favorite target, hauling in 111 yards on seven receptions, while running back Kevin Harris returned back to 2020 form. Harris accumulated his best rushing total of this season, a 128-yard performance on 16 carries.
ZaQuandre White also finished with over 100 yards, carrying the ball 13 times for 111 yards.
“I’m sitting here looking at it, Kevin averaged 8 yards, ZaQuandre averaged 8.5, and MarShawn (Lloyd) averaged right at 7. I mean, that’s unbelievable,” Beamer said, “because that’s a good defense.”
Defensively, Jabari Ellis recovered a scoop-and-score fumble, Cam Smith came down with an interception and the Gamecocks sacked Florida quarterback Emory Jones twice.
South Carolina earned its fifth win of Beamer’s first season in Columbia and only needs to earn one more victory to earn bowl eligibility. The Gamecocks travel to play Missouri next week before hosting Auburn and Clemson to round out the 2021 season.
Beamer was adamant that Saturday’s win was for South Carolina and Gamecocks fans across the state.
“There haven’t been a lot of great moments like this over the last couple years,” Beamer said. “Just like our players where I want them to have success, I want these fans that are so passionate for us to be able to celebrate and have nights like this as well. So just really happy for them. Really happy for our players, and hopefully we got a lot more of these games coming like this as well.”
Beamer took a short pause before continuing his statement.
“And we will if a lot of those recruits that were in that stadium tonight and the ones that are texting me on my phone, if they decide to come to Carolina, we’ll have some even more fantastic nights than this,” Beamer said.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 12:40 AM.
