What Shane Beamer said on USC offense’s game plan, his reaction to cries for change
South Carolina lost its homecoming game 23-10 to Missouri. It was the first time the No. 25 Gamecocks played as a ranked team since 2018.
USC (5-3, 2-3 SEC) had 203 total yards of offense and lost its fourth-straight game to the Tigers.
Here’s what USC head coach Shane Beamer had to say after the loss.
On playing as a ranked team: “I thought we had a great week of practice. Guys were focused and had great energy. I was watching closely in practice to make sure that I didn’t see any signs of complacency.
“In the first quarter, we looked like a team that was on our heels and just assumed everything was gonna be OK and just waiting for something to happen. I told this team, ‘This conference is a freaking grind, and every week, you better be at your best.’ ”
On Rattler’s performance: “He’ll be the first to tell you he’s got to play better. We got to protect him better. A lot of times tonight, he was under duress and made some great plays, some gutty plays.”
On offensive game plan: “We always feel good about it. We didn’t do a good enough job of coaching, playing, executing tonight.”
On outside pleas to make changes at OC/QB: “I understand their frustrations. We flat out laid an egg tonight.
“Tonight was not good enough in any phase, starting with me. But like every game, win or lose, we always get back to work on Sunday morning and see what the issues are.”
On Jaheim Bell’s status, not getting any touches: “Jaheim Bell’s healthy. We’ve got to give him the ball more. ... We’ve got a lot of great playmakers on our offense, at receiver, at running back, at tight end. When you play 53 plays on offense, and you’re 5-of-13 on third down, it’s hard to play a lot of plays and get all those guys the ball.”
On Missouri’s offense: “They do a good job keeping you off balance with formations, personnel groupings, motions, trick plays. That’s kind of their MO. They did a great job tonight getting the ball on the perimeter. We didn’t leverage it correctly a couple of times.
“A couple times in the first half, we felt like we had the perfect call for what they ran, and they were still able to execute on third downs.”
On facing Missouri’s defense: Said they’re really disruptive, looked like last year’s game.
“They’re disruptive. The disappointing thing is, it looked a lot like last year’s game.Their guys up front putting pressure on the quarterback, disrupting guys, getting pressure, stopping the run. (Ty’Ron Hopper) is a good player, their defensive line returned. They’ve got length and they’re athletic and they’re in there disruptive. The new defensive coordinator has done a good job and they’re well-coached.”
On MarShawn Lloyd going out: “He’s got a pretty significant bruise on his quad. Took a shot in the first half and worked on it throughout halftime. He tried to go, but as you guys saw, he just wasn’t wasn’t the same. I think he’ll be okay long-term.”
On Brad Johnson not playing: “Had a little bit of a lower body injury. We were hesitant to play him. He was limited in practice this week, and we felt like was going to play. But as the week went on, just with all that Missouri does from an offensive standpoint…we just felt like he hadn’t gotten enough reps in practice. He should be fine for next week.
This story was originally published October 29, 2022 at 8:21 PM.
