Shane Beamer’s final word on injuries going into Gamecocks’ matchup with SC State
South Carolina football will be missing a few of its key players for Saturday’s home opener against South Carolina State.
Starting cornerback Judge Collier will miss the game with a knee injury, USC head coach Shane Beamer said Thursday on his weekly radio call-in show. Collier left Sunday’s game against Virginia Tech with a knee injury and didn’t return.
Beamer said Tuesday that he didn’t think Collier’s injury would be long term.
Collier played all 12 games as a freshman with two starts. As a sophomore, he started all 13 games last season for the Gamecocks, had 28 tackles and led the team with eight pass breakups.
Myles Norwood and Vacari Swain both saw action after Collier left the game.
In addition to Collier, defensive end Jatius Geer also will miss the game against the Bulldogs. Beamer said both have a chance to return next week in the Southeastern Conference opener against Vanderbilt.
According to Pro Football Focus, Geer played 18 snaps in the win over the Hokies. The former Syracuse transfer played in 10 games last season for the Gamecocks and had eight tackles.
“It’s nothing long-term with either one of them,” Beamer said during the show. “I expect them both back next week. They are just not to where they would be able to play this Saturday.
“We’re very fortunate coming out of Virginia Tech. That was a very physical football game on both sides. Hate that those two guys got banged up a little bit but very fortunate that it is no one beyond those two, and that those two aren’t long-term injuries.”
Freshman offensive lineman Shed Sarratt will play this week after missing last week’s game with an injury. Sarratt was listed as backup at guard on the depth chart released earlier this week. Rodney Newsom started against the Hokies but was replaced by Markee Anderson in the second half.
Starting next week, South Carolina will have to disclose injuries sooner, with the Southeastern Conference making teams release injury reports each day from Wednesday until game day.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM.
