What Shane Beamer said about possible player opt-outs for USC’s bowl game
In the wake of shock a year ago, Florida State gave up on its season.
The Seminoles became the first team in the playoff era to go undefeated in a power conference only to get left out of the College Football Playoff. In the hours and days that followed, outrage was everywhere. The criticism over the committee’s decision to not give FSU a chance to beat a top team despite an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis.
Florida State, which had not lost all year, did not get a chance to play for a national championship. The consolation prize? An Orange Bowl appearance against No. 6 Georgia.
That was a chance to prove the committee was wrong. A chance to show they can beat one of the best teams in America — regardless of who’s at quarterback. Instead, the Seminoles didn’t even bother.
Over a dozen Florida State players either opted out or transferred ahead of the bowl game. The Seminoles lost by 60 to Georgia.
South Carolina, ending the 2024 regular season on a six-game winning streak, seemed to be in position to jump Alabama and Ole Miss on Tuesday and leap into the playoff picture. Instead, the committee put them at No. 14 — making it impossible for USC to make the expanded 12-team playoff.
One moment, every South Carolina player and staffer were thinking about the College Football Playoff. And now, what’s the best-case scenario? A spot in the Cheez-It Cirus Bowl? To many, that’s a letdown.
Could South Carolina endure a similar flurry of opt-outs as Florida State did a year ago?
“No one has told me they’re going to,” Beamer said. “I will say this: The players on this team are extremely motivated to try and go get a 10th win. That’s really important to a lot of guys.”
Now, Beamer admitted that he’s had a number of conversations. There are some guys who have a genuine decision to make and have asked for Beamer’s thoughts and opinion.
What he told them was simple: There’s nothing to decide right now. Wait to see where the Gamecocks are going. Wait to see who they’re playing. There’s plenty of time to make a decision.
With every team competing in a non-playoff bowl game, the players most likely to opt out are those who are expected to be high draft picks.
Those guys on South Carolina are defensive tackle T.J. Sanders — who is, according to many mock drafts, the Gamecocks’ top NFL prospect — as well as edge rusher Kyle Kennard, safety Nick Emmanwori and perhaps others like running back Rocket Sanders, linebacker Demetrius Knight and defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway.
Perhaps a handful of those guys decide to skip the bowl game to ensure their health heading into the draft. Maybe it’s just one or two.
Still, Beamer was adamant that South Carolina would not show up to a bowl game in the same fashion Florida State did a year ago.
“We’re gonna handle it the right way,” Beamer said. “There were some examples last season of teams that dealt with disappointment and handled it the right way and handled it the wrong way. We talked about being the team that handles it the right way.”
“A core value of our program is to compete,” he said, “and we’re going to go compete.”
South Carolina will learn its bowl destination sometime Sunday afternoon.
