COLUMBIA: Another Saturday, another top 15 opponent for South Carolina inside Williams-Brice Stadium. Last week it was 14th ranked Oklahoma which handed the Gamecocks a 26-7 defeat. This week, 4th ranked Alabama comes to Columbia looking to extend their six game winning streak and remain unbeaten in SEC play.
The Crimson Tide is a two-touchdown favorite against the 3-4 Gamecocks who are 3-4 and losers in four of their last five games. The teams played last season in Tuscaloosa with the Crimson Tide surviving with two fourth quarter touchdowns while the Gamecocks failed on a two point conversion that would have forced overtime.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said on Tuesday the injury situation for this Saturday looks much better. Five of the six injured offensive linemen, he said, practiced today and are expected to play. The lone exception is starting right tackle Cason Henry who is likely out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury that will require surgery.
Defensive end Dylan Stewart, who missed most of the Oklahoma game with a hip flexor injury suffered in the first quarter, will be back as well according to Beamer.
Some of Beamer’s key comments Tuesday:
- Alabama has a fantastic team, Simpson is the hottest QB in the country right now, playing at a high level, their offense is playing at a high level, his guys are looking forward to competing, disappointed in last week but this is a new week.
- They’ve had good practices and good walk throughs and it’s frustrating for him not to see that carried over to Saturdays. He’s trying to figure out why that’s not carrying over to the games.
- Understands there’s noise out there, there should be, he’s not happy with where things are right now and he’s going to get it fixed, he realizes he’s letting a lot of people down right now with the team’s performance.
- It’s a process, he’s working to get it fixed, they are not that far off.
- Doesn’t believe he needs to make further changes on offensive staff right now. He continues to evaluate everything and doesn’t see where he needs to make any more changes right now. He’s got the players and coaches right now to get it right.
- He as the head coach has not gotten the most out of this team and it’s his goal to improve on that and win more games the rest of the season.
- Alabama is controlling the ball, Simpson has been sharp and the offense is moving efficiently, works well with their defense and doesn’t overwork their defense.
- His coaches are pros, not their first rodeo, they know there’s the outside noise and they are just focusing on what they can do to fix the issues.
- He is happy to be at a place where people are passionate and the expectations are high, he understands their frustrations because they were so close to CFP last season.
- Thought the OL took a step forward last week, no pre-snap penalties, said they have good players in that room, were recruited by everyone, it’s week two with Elliott so he expects them to take another step forward.
- They believe they can beat anyone on their schedule, thus they believe they can beat Alabama, those who played in last year’s game know that a play here and there makes a difference.
- Felt good about the OL going into the season even though he knew he was losing the center and two guards, really liked the returning guys and brought in portal guys they liked, so felt good about the group but they haven’t progressed fast enough, injuries have hurt.
In two years, Shane Beamer will be the special teams coach at Alabama.