‘It’s not good’: What Shane Beamer said about injuries after win against SC State
It’s unusual to find many complaints after an 38-10 win, but there were a number of concerns surrounding South Carolina football Saturday after it took down S.C. State.
The biggest concern is health. There were a plethora of names added to the injury report. Defensive backs Jalon Kilgore and Judge Collier were ruled out ahead of kickoff. Brandon Cisse, Vicari Swain, Markee Anderson, Jaquel Holman, Brady Hunt and Josiah Thompson all were sidelined during the game.
The Gamecocks offense struggled to get going early and finished the game with just two scores from Mike Shula’s unit. Penalties nagged USC all night. The team committed seven penalties for 48 yards.
Here’s what Shane Beamer had to say about the injured Gamecocks and offensive struggles:
Injury update
“It’ll be too long to name, guys, so don’t even ask ... It’s not good.”
“Obviously we were down Jalon Kilgore going into the game. Brandon Cisse got hurt early in the game. Our third-team nickel is Jaquel Holman, he got hurt in the first quarter. We were literally down to our fourth nickel.”
Cisse collided with edge rusher Bryan Thomas Jr. on a tackle on the game’s first drive. Though he appeared to motion to take himself out of the game, he stayed in and finished the drive. Holman replaced him on the next series.
“We had some other injuries as it went,” Beamer said. “Brady Hunt, Josiah Thompson, the [defensive backs]. I’ll have a better answer for you (Sunday) night on the teleconference.”
“Jalon Kilgore is out, your starting nickel, and then you lose Brandon Cisse, your other nickel, and then you lost Jaquel Holman, your other nickel, as well. It gets pretty dicey in there.”
Holman had his left arm in a sling after his injury. Redshirt freshman Kelvin Hunter stepped in to play nickel for the Gamecocks.
Anderson, an offensive lineman, limped off the field with the help of trainers during a second-half drive.
Beamer did not offer specifics on any of the players’ injuries. He speaks with reporters again Sunday night.
Swain was seen in street clothes on the sideline after scoring two punt-return touchdowns. He was interacting with teammates and did not appear to be favoring anything in particular.
Sluggish offense
“Certainly a sloppy first half from an offensive standpoint. I think field position had a big reason for that, not to make excuses.”
The Gamecocks began three of their 10 offensive drives inside their own 15-yard line.
“We know we need to be a lot better. We can’t rely on our defense and special teams to score three touchdowns a game.”
“There were some plays in the first half that we thought were good, that we knew we needed to get back to, that we didn’t quite execute in the right way in the first half.”
USC punted on three of five first half drives and kicked field goals on the remaining two. The first offensive touchdown didn’t come until nearly four minutes into the third quarter.
The Gamecocks will try to get healthy and iron out the kinks on offense before their SEC opener Saturday against Vanderbilt at 7:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.
This story was originally published September 7, 2025 at 1:19 AM.
