USC expects loud, raucous environment at Neyland Stadium. Why Gamecocks feel prepared
One hundred decibels, 110, then 115. Ear-ringing sound that leaves fans with headaches after spending three hours/ in a football stadium. It’s hard enough to hear someone 5 feet away, never mind hearing play calls on the field or knowing when to snap the ball.
But that’s what it’s like in the SEC. Every week, it’s loud, it’s chaotic, it’s “hostile.”
“It’s what you want to coach in and to play in,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said. “Coaching in environments like these, that’s SEC football.”
Heading to Knoxville this week for a game against Tennessee, South Carolina still has a number of young players playing significant snaps. Neyland Stadium has over 101,000 seats, and can reach decibel levels equal to an indoor rock concert.
But the Gamecocks aren’t worried about the bone-rattling noise; they’ve already experienced their fair share of it.
“I think it’s good to get young guys used to that obviously,” Spencer Rattler said. “Get your feet wet out there in a big environment like Athens and do well.”
Playing in Athens during Week 3, USC’s offense was often put in first-and-15 or second-and-long situations because of pre-snap penalties. Most were calls for offside and delay of game.
While Beamer and the offense weren’t pleased with those penalties, they all agreed it does help having already been in these situations before heading to Tennessee this weekend.
“Yeah, it certainly helps,” Beamer said. “We are battle-tested in a lot of ways, and just the environments we’ve been in, Charlotte was electric, and Athens was rocking, like you would expect.”
Being in those situations and knowing what to expect can make things easier, particularly for those freshmen who haven’t had the full SEC experience yet. The first-time jitters shouldn’t be there anymore, but instead it should feel seamless on the field, USC offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo said.
“They’ve obviously had two road games now, one in Charlotte and one in Georgia,” Gargiulo said. “Hopefully that will make them more comfortable, as well as my first time playing in Neyland. So they need to hone in on things that we do in a loud environment and hopefully perform.”
Plus, it’s yet another night game — the fourth one for the Gamecocks this season. Beamer joked how there’s “definitely” a correlation between the crowd noise levels and start times, and having the day to prepare for a game rather than just a few hours before a noon or 1 p.m. kickoff.
“Game time does matter, that gives them all day to get ready,” he said. “I think we’ve seen this with the environment, our own stadium, where it can be at night on the road in this league as well.”
Still, whether it is a noon or 7:30 p.m. kickoff, the head coach is expecting the Gamecocks to play with the same intensity and confidence, both at Williams-Brice and on the road in Knoxville.
And eventually, he hopes there will be a day game this season.
“One of these days around here we’re going to have a day game.” Beamer said laughing. “It’s not just that night here at Williams-Brice Stadium, it should also be during the day, as well. We tell our players all the time. It doesn’t matter what time we play morning, afternoon, night, and fans need to have the same mindset whenever we do have a day game around here.”
USC vs Tennessee
Who: South Carolina (2-2, 1-1 SEC) vs. No. 21 Tennessee (3-1, 0-1)
Where: Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Stream: ESPN app and ESPN.com
This story was originally published September 28, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
