What Shane Beamer said about injuries, fake punt penalty call in USC loss to LSU
South Carolina lost in its road game against LSU 20-10 on Saturday, moving to 3-3 on the year and 1-3 in the SEC.
Here’s what Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer had to say after the game:
Injury report
Beamer provided his usual postgame update for injuries, which featured a long list of Gamecock players. The key injuries were to offensive lineman Shedrick Sarratt, who went to the locker room early on crutches, and defensive back Brandon Cisse.
Neither player returned to the game after going down.
“Our trainer felt like they were able to come back if they felt well enough to, but they didn’t feel well enough,” Beamer said. “We didn’t hold them out in the second half.”
Beamer on the TV broadcast said Sarratt was dealing with an ankle injury.
Failed fake punt
USC attempted its second fake punt in two weeks, both of which ending unsuccessfully. The Gamecocks looked as though they converted against the Tigers, but the play was called back due to an illegal procedure penalty pre-snap. Beamer was irate on the sidelines after the penalty.
“I was told that [the refs were] holding it and he wasn’t ready for the snap,” he said. “Normally, the center judge stands over the ball. There was nobody standing over the ball. The referee had his hands out, and then he backed out of it. I don’t know how the punter, the personal protector who’s making the call, and the snapper are supposed to know not to snap the ball when the referee is standing behind the punter. So, somebody’s got to explain that to me.”
Missed opportunites
Beamer didn’t mince words when speaking about how USC fell short of the task, and frequently held itself back during the game. He spent his entire opening statement to the media discussing these shortcomings.
“Sick to my stomach. ... We had plenty of opportunities,” he said. “When you win the turnover battle, which we did, when you get that last sack ... you should win the game. We had our opportunities, and that was the story tonight: Missed opportunities and not finishing drives.”
Penalty problems
South Carolina committed 13 penalties, including seven pre-snap from the offense for 35 yards. Beamer said his frustration level was “high.”
“We coached it, we disciplined it better, we practiced with crowd noise all week,” Beamer said. “Everything we talked about in practice, we emphasized it all week. Not good enough. The frustration level is high.”
Sellers’ performance
LaNorris Sellers had arguably his worst individual performance of the year in Death Valley. He went 15-for-27 passing with 124 yards, an interception and zero touchdowns. He was also sacked five times and committed two intentional grounding penalties.
Despite that, Beamer’s confidence in his quarterback is strong, he said.
“He gave us an opportunity to win. He’ll be the first to tell you when he comes in, here he missed some throws. I’m sure he’d like to have some plays back,” Beamer said. “But the kid’s tough as hell and he made some plays for us.”
Fuller’s touches
Redshirt freshman running back Matthew Fuller got off to a hot start with a 72-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and then didn’t touch the ball again for the rest of the half. He finished the game with seven touches and only 11 additional yards after the big gain. Beamer said he urged his staff at halftime to get Fuller more touches.
“He needed to be back out there. I told the coaches at halftime, give the freaking ball to Matt Fuller in the second half and let’s get him back in the game,” Beamer said. “We’ve got a good rotation with those three guys, but Matt’s a load and we wanted him back rolling in the second half, and in the first half certainly we wanted to get him back in there.”
Looking ahead
South Carolina will play four currently ranked teams in a row to finish out its SEC slate, starting with a home game against Oklahoma next Saturday at 12:45 p.m. on SEC Network. Beamer drew comparisons to last season when questioned about taking lessons from the loss on to future games.
“I think you take from [the loss]. Unfortunately we were 3-3 this time last year, and we were on the road at Alabama and lost a heartbreaker,” Beamer said. “You draw on last year that we were 3-3 and we rallied and continued to get better. ... I know it’s not pretty right now but I feel like we’re getting better in a lot of areas. There’s things you can take from it, but certainly we need to quit kicking our own butts before kicking other team’s butts.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 11:55 PM.
