Injuries are never something you want to hear about. You especially don’t want to hear about them before a single game has been played.
Still, it happens, and at South Carolina this week it’s happened four times.
It started on Sunday when we learned that not one, but two, wide receivers would be out for the season with lower body injuries. Both Jayden Gibson and Jayden Sellers suffered non-contact injuries in their first fall scrimmage and will not see the field this season. The other news came on Wednesday when Shane Beamer announced that left tackle Jacarrius Peak and Dylan Stewart would not be ready for the season opener in a little over two weeks.
South Carolina fans are used to feeling like the sky is falling. It’s a program marred by shortcomings and near misses with so much heartache sprinkled in as well.
This isn’t that. When it comes to the injury news this week, the optics are much worse than the reality. Losing Gibson and Sellers certainly sucks, especially given the circumstances. Sellers is starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ little brother who was coming off a breakout campaign late last year and likely a starter this season. Gibson was a transfer from Oklahoma who has missed the last two seasons entirely with other injuries. This will now be his third consecutive season missed which is heartbreaking for anyone.
As for Peak and Stewart, this was most likely the plan all along which makes the overreactions from fans and media on social media either irresponsible or downright stupid. Both players are essential to the success of this year’s team. Both players are also two of the top paid players in terms of NIL contracts on this year’s team. There’s something to be said for protecting your investment if you’re South Carolina. There’s something more to be said for not risking making an injury worse against the likes of Kent State and FCS Towson. The Gamecocks don’t open up SEC play until week three against Mississippi State, and neither one of these players should be needed until then.
That Mississippi State game is still a month away, and to be frank, if South Carolina needs Stewart, Peak or the other two receivers to beat Towson and Kent State, they have bigger problems than anyone realized.
I spoke to Beamer earlier this week for about 30 minutes about how close this team and program are to turning a corner.
“The guys that came back knew that we were not far from where we wanted to be in 2025 and have a chance to do some special things in 2026. Otherwise they wouldn’t be back. We ain’t that far off. We literally had an opportunity to win every game last season going into the fourth quarter,” he said.
We’ll have to wait and see on that, but for now one thing is for certain, everyone can calm down about players missing the Kent State and Towson game.
