By Chris Marler
Season in a sentence
Shane Beamer and South Carolina turned a corner this year, but is it sustainable?
Three Highs
- Six Game win streak
Sitting at 3-3 South Carolina was coming off a heartbreaking loss at Alabama. They regrouped and reeled off six straight wins which at the time was the longest winning streak in the SEC and included wins over ranked Texas A&M, Missouri, and Clemson.
2. Beating Clemson
It wasn’t just that South Carolina beat Clemson, it was that they did it in such dramatic fashion. LaNorris Sellers was incredible, especially scrambling for a 20-yard touchdown on 3rd and 16, which gave the Gamecocks the lead for good with 1:08 to play in the game. It was the Gamecocks second straight win over Clemson in the fake death valley.
3. LaNorris Sellers
No player in America made the turnaround that Sellers did from the first half of the season to the second. In the final six games, he completed 67 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions. Captain LaMerica was simply one of the most exciting players in the country.
Three Lows
- The Bowl Game
South Carolina was an 8.5-point favorite over Illinois and felt all but certain to close out the season with a tenth win. That would essentially prove to everyone why they did indeed belong in the College Football Playoff. That is not how the game went. The only thing more embarrassing than the loss was the meltdown in miscommunication that Shane Beamer had afterwards.
- The LSU loss
No loss stings more than this one for South Carolina fans. They had a two-score lead at halftime when their starting quarterback got injured. They did everything to win the game, but after multiple questionable calls from the refs and even more questionable decisions from the coaching staff, they lost by three. Looking back on a season where a tenth win would have guaranteed them a playoff spot, this was the one that got away.
- The Ole Miss game
The most embarrassing loss of the year and maybe the Beamer era. Beamer’s squad had an extra week to prepare and a chip on their shoulder with former Gamecock Juice Wells on the opposing sideline. Still, like a drunk freshman in five points, fell flat on their face.
The Offense
At the halfway point of the season, Dowell Loggains was firmly on the hot seat as the offensive coordinator. South Carolina ranked 13th or worse in the SEC in 18 of 30 offensive categories. They ranked in the top five in just one, total punts. Not great.
What happened after the Ole Miss game was nothing short of remarkable. South Carolina lost the next week in Tuscaloosa but they found their identity. LaNorris Sellers was incredible. The passing game opened up and the offensive creativity followed. The offense featured a three-headed monster with Sellers, tight end Josh Simon, and running back Rocket Sanders.
From the first six games to the last six games, South Carolina scored 8.2 more points per game and improved by 95 yards of offense per game.
Offensive Grade: B
The Defense
Clayton White started the season as a hot seat candidate. The defensive coordinator in year four of his tenure in Columbia turned in his best year yet. The Gamecocks have forced 88 turnovers in his four years which is the most of any team in the conference.
The defense went from a bend-but-don’t-break identity in his first three years to one of the best units in the country in year four. They had elite All-SEC caliber players at every level of the defense including two All-Americans in edge rusher Kyle Kennard and safety Nick Emmanwori.
White’s unit racked up 20 more sacks this season than last year, finishing with 41. The Gamecocks also finished top five in the conference in scoring, rushing, and total defense. The ability of this staff, especially White, to evaluate talent in the portal and develop them in Columbia has been one of the most impressive things in the league this season. Demetrius Knight Jr, Debo Williams, and Kennard were all impactful players in the front seven that came to Carolina from the portal.
They closed the year by holding three of their final six regular season opponents to under 300 yards and five of their final six to 20 points or less.
Defensive Grade: A-
Overall Grade
South Carolina’s season win total was projected at five games. They finished the regular season with nine wins and knocking on the door of the 12-team playoff. Four of their nine wins were as underdogs. Four of their final six opponents were ranked at the time they played and South Carolina won those games by an average of 13 points per game.
Shane Beamer orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in college football and did so believing in his guys and betting on himself. The outside noise got very loud after the 24-point loss to Ole Miss. They could have rolled over and died down 14 in Tuscaloosa.
The opening drive of the second half against Alabama changed the entire trajectory of the season. Down 14-12, they opened with a 16-play scoring drive, featuring 13 rushes right down the throat of Alabama’s defense. That drive is where the Gamecocks found their identity and turned the corner. Now the question will be is that where they turned the corner for the season or the future of the program.
Overall Season Grade: A-
