Shane Beamer was in good spirits today, choosing to find joy looking forward to the upcoming opportunity against Texas A&M instead of harping on the loss at Missouri this past weekend. The Gamecocks look to bounce back after the 34-12 loss, where the team dropped to 2-5 overall, and 1-4 in the SEC.
A big focus of the press conference was the number of injuries this season, particularly along the offensive line and receiving corps. Beamer told us he reached out to two NFL head coaches yesterday to pick their brains on working through injuries, especially with the NFL roster only having 53 players. He acknowledged the outside noise about his strength and conditioning program, but stands firmly behind his coaches, and instead points to mostly bad luck on the injury front. He did say the coaches are always looking for ways to improve, and certainly do their best to keep the players as healthy as possible, but that injuries are always just a part of football.
Beamer pointed to the leadership of his upperclassmen, and even though they didn’t return with expectations of a 2-5 start, he fully believes in those players to continue to lead in the locker room, and to keep this team from splintering from within. Coach said QB Spencer Rattler apologized to him after the loss to Missouri, but that he instead took responsibility and should be the one apologizing to Spencer. He said he and the other coaches need to do a better job of putting the banged-up OL into position to help protect Spencer from taking so many hits.
On the injury front, Beamer said star WR Juice Wells will not play against A&M this weekend, and that WR Ahmarean Brown is doubtful. When asked directly about whether he expects Wells to play again this season, Beamer could not confirm one way or the other, but says they certainly hope to see Juice back on the field this season.
USC travels to College Station to face Texas A&M (4-3 overall, 2-2 SEC) for the Gamecocks final road game of the season, with kickoff Saturday scheduled for high noon. The game will be televised on ESPN.
above 500 of personality below 500 of a coach…. he never looses during talking season….or on social media
more likable then muschamp but does not win as much