Talking Tuesday: South Carolina coach Shane Beamer says Stewart is back, and the administration at the University has his back (AUDIO)

South Carolina heads to the Swamp this weekend, and that’s a tough place to visit when things aren’t going well. The Gamecocks are reeling with three straight SEC losses to open conference play, and nine straight losses to Power Four programs.

The head has been building around head coach Shane Beamer, though if he’s worried about job security, he didn’t show that Tuesday at his weekly press conference. Beamer said from the messages and conversations he has had with administrators and parents of players and recruits, they are all supportive of him. And based on comments from players Tuesday, there is no turmoil within the locker room.

Beamer also said Tuesday that defensive end Dylan Stewart was back in meetings and practice on Tuesday, thus ending his suspension of over a week from all team related activities due to his actions in the Alabama game. Beamer said he’ll decide later in the week if Stewart will dress and play this week at Florida.

The Gamecocks are catching the Gators coming off of their worst performance of the season, a 45-17 loss at Missouri, their first defeat under new coach Jon Sumrall. Up until then, the Gators had been clicking on all cylinders with four straight wins, including victories over Auburn and Ole Miss. They are still averaging over 46 points and 491 yards per game. However, they are allowing 393 yards and 27 points per game.

Florida leads the series 41-10-3 and has won the last two meetings. The Gators have won 17 of the 19 games in Gainesville. USC last beat the Gators in 2021, and last won in the Swamp in 2014. Florida is a two touchdown favorite.

Key comments from Beamer

• Coach Sumrall has done an excellent job at Florida in a short amount of time, goes on to cite all the positives for the Gators, on offense, defense and special teams.
• Dylan Stewart was at practice today, his status for the game this Saturday will be determined later.
• They are working to fix the things that have been problems, he’s got a good group and they are responding, defensively they will continue to do what they do, no change to scheme.
• On two point conversion, Peyton Williams did a great job pointing out to everyone where they needed to be, but they didn’t execute properly.
• Defensive guys are trying to create turnovers, they work on that all the time, they emphasize it in practice, they just aren’t happening right now.
• Got to get better at creating turnovers and do a better job of protecting the football, and they are getting better with pass rush and getting sacks.
• Got to be better starting the second half, third quarters in SEC games have not been good, believes their halftime meetings with the players are good, they make what he feels are the proper adjustments, looking at tweaking some things at halftime that might help.
• Knows its week to week, 2-3 is not good enough and he owns it, he hasn’t been good enough as a head coach, what he can control is trying to put best team together each week, administration and big donors have been supportive, lots of positive messages from them.
• Parents of players and parents of recruits have been very supportive, they’ve reached out to him with messages.
• Doesn’t look good for Sanchez getting eligible to play, he’s with them and kicking in practice, he’s a great teammate.
• Can’t let negativity clutter the mind, trying to focus on what he can control and improve the team, feels they are better as a team than they were a week ago.
• Hindsight wished he had called timeout before the two point conversion by Kentucky, but from what he saw on the field, he felt the defense was prepared and Kentucky looked to be scrambling, but Minchie did a good job getting his guys together.
• Losing the leads like they have is not a mental or physical thing, just have to start second half betters. They retook lead after losing it to UK, so it’s not like they are mentally beat down during games.
• Today was first day Stewart was back with the team in meetings and practice since the Alabama game. He had been suspended from all team activities. He has learned from the experience and grown from it. He and Stewart had some good conversations during the week.

Shane Beamer Tuesday press conference previewing Florida