Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks. The Gamecocks come home, Shane Beamer makes history, and the soccer teams have a good week. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:53] Okay.
[00:00:55] Welcome to episode 336 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all have had a chance to catch your breath a little bit. After week one was an interesting. Really threw off my equilibrium being on the Sunday game because then it was Monday, you had no work, and it's a short work week, and it's, you know, less rest between the games. I'm, you know, I'm an elite athlete. I'm a ball watcher, so, you know, had to get my recovery in. In shape, but so glad to be back into the swing of things. It's so much fun. We got NFL this weekend. It's just.
[00:01:41] It's perfect. It's just such a relief to be back. It's the best time of year. It really, really is. And hope y' all are ready to jump into this weekend here. Very exciting time, and it just so great to be able to just talk Gamecock football with everyone. Anyone and everyone that's willing to listen to me. I've been going on and on about it. I got people coming out of the woodwork saying, hey, congrats on that Week one, I got co workers who I. I don't text who are reaching out to me saying, that punt return was insane. 1 0. Congrats. It's just Lenores and Shane Beamer are bringing people together, and it's just a beautiful thing to see. But okay, let's dive into things here with a little bit of a week in review from around USC athletics. On Tuesday, men's soccer beat FIU 3, 2. And on Wednesday, the women's soccer team continued a strong season start by beating American University 2 nothing. So way to go. I believe both are in action this weekend, and seeing some of these other fall sports ramp up as well is a lot of fun. Volleyball and things like that. But there are a lot of eyeballs and a lot of attention on a particular fall sport, and that is football. Here I have a few pieces of news to catch y' all up on. I'm sure you've seen it, though. But first and foremost, Gamecocks are ranked in the top 10, coming in at number 10 in the most recent AP poll. First time since 2014 that that has happened. It's been far too long, and it feels like coming home you know, just like, wow, you know, we are in the top 10. And look, a lot can happen between now and the end of the year. Who knows how things are going to shake up? We could be on top of the world. We could be somewhere in between. Who knows, right?
[00:03:52] But I think in life and in sports, it's really easy to think of, like, okay, what's next?
[00:04:00] And to look ahead, take a minute and enjoy this moment. Okay, you're a Gamecock fan. I'm a Gamecock fan.
[00:04:12] Things haven't always come easy for us.
[00:04:15] And if we're talking about football especially, it's been this climb and we've seen a lot of growth and good things under Shane Beamer. But even with that, it hasn't always come easy. And before he got here, we went through years of crap and just trying to get back to this feeling that we had and we knew could be done because we had seen it. And that's what Shane Beamer had preached ever since he got hired, that he has seen success at South Carolina and knows it can be done.
[00:04:50] And right now, the present is pretty bright. You know, a lot of people say the future is bright under Shane Beamer. That may be true. But just take a minute and enjoy this moment.
[00:05:03] Carolina GameCocks are top 10 in the country.
[00:05:07] Really, really cool. And then speaking of Beamer, I didn't mention this last episode, but it is definitely worth noting. He is the fastest Coach to get 30 career coaching wins in school history. So shout out. Shane Beamer, again, hasn't always been easy, but with the exception of one year, exceeded win total expectations every way. Has found a way to turn around the culture in this program. Have everyone in Gamecock Nation believing and kudos to him, and I'm glad he's our coach and he's somewhere he wants to be. And it seems like we got the right people in and around the program to keep this thing growing. And it's just really, really cool to see updates here on the personnel side of things here. This came from Shane Beamer's press conference. Talked about Judge Collier and JT Gear. Both suffered injuries in the Virginia Tech game. He said nothing long term, which is great.
[00:06:11] Judge, he had his knee wrapped up on that sideline. He had crutches that looked bad. He said it's nothing long term. He didn't put a timetable on it.
[00:06:22] If I had to guess, it's one of those deals where you're going to at least be two or three weeks and who knows, right? But if we can get Judge back for that gauntlet middle of the schedule. That would be great. I think there's depth in that defensive backfield to tread water while he is out. JT Gear, he didn't get into specifics. He being Beamer just said, you know, nothing long term with him and you have to hope that really is the case.
[00:06:49] A that Edge group has dealt with a lot of injuries and to be as successful as the Gamecocks want to be on the defensive line, depth is a key part of it. Gear is a guy that's on the two deep. You need him in the rotation, but just on a personal level for him, he's a guy that's really battled through injuries, hasn't been able to stay healthy, was really hoping this year would be it for him, so hopefully I don't know what he did. I saw him limping off the field briefly against Virginia Tech, so hopefully it's a deal where hey, sit out against SEC State, get right, come back for SEC play against Vandy because we're going to need you. But best of wishes to both of them on a speeding recovery because we certainly could use both of them.
[00:07:39] But okay, time to talk about the weekend's activities here as South Carolina comes home for the first time this year to play at Williams Bryce taking on S.C.
[00:07:53] state.
[00:07:54] Kickoff is slated for 7pm as a public service announcement. This game is on ESPN or SEC Network plus, so you gotta have some sort of connection, whether it be paying for SEC plus or sometimes you get that with a cable provider, so be on the lookout for that.
[00:08:15] But it looks like we're gonna be showing off some new digs here. Will he be sporting some very fancy new end zones? This had been teased out throughout the week, but in short, go look on whatever social media you like. They posted a picture, but we're gonna have full garnet endzones, which people have been calling for for a while now with white lettering. And the palmetto tree is going to be painted in the end zone. So a lot was made of the palmetto trees being moved for the on field sponsorship, Donati said. Don't worry about it. We'll have a surprise for you. Boom in the end zone. They look crisp. They look clean. If this is here to stay, oof. Looks very, very sharp. But I do think that after all the emotion of last weekend in that opener being a neutral sight game, this is just what the doctor ordered for the Gamecocks to play in the friendly confines of Williams Bryce in front of what will be a very excited crowd. It really should make for a good night, you know and it is a little interesting with it being on short rest six days as opposed to seven but you know trainers, everyone had plenty of notice about that. I'm sure they had a recovery plan in place and luckily it's not a deal where you know it's a far ride from Atlanta, you know, far plane ride but whatever it may be so. But it is something to note that you are on one less rest here. But in general this is just should be a good night for the state too as a lot of attention from around South Carolina will be on this game. Shane Beamer talked about how he loves playing teams in the state. Of course you play Clemson every year but you know you talk about Wofford, Furman, S.C. state. I think it's really, really cool. And look of course while you never overlook an opponent, I think that this team team being South Carolina, while you get the win against the Power 4 opponent in the opener, this game is the perfect place to practice some of those adjustments that you needed to see in week one be able to get more game reps at home while SEC play is right around the corner.
[00:10:45] So what are the Gamecocks looking at in SC State currently at 1 0. This program is looking to continue a proud tradition of playing good football. They've had some good teams there.
[00:10:58] It does seem like they're replacing some top talent this year, but they are a well coached team and you know they're going to come in hyped up for this matchup and they're going to give Carolina their best shot. It's, you know, don't mean to say this, it's not disrespectful. This is their super bowl, right? You have this game circled, you talk about it all offseason. You get to go to Williams Bryce in your home state and you're going to try to give the big SEC school a run for their money. It's just what the nature of these matchups are.
[00:11:29] Offensively it seems like the Bulldogs will run a lot of spread.
[00:11:34] I expect to see some motion in that but still maintaining a balance attack. In their opening game they actually played two quarterbacks, one more of a pocket passer, one more of an athlete. So that's something to be on the lookout for. Definitely a expect the unexpected type of deal if you're Clayton White.
[00:11:53] Defensively I don't think they're going to do anything too wild.
[00:11:57] From what I can tell, the Bulldogs run a pretty traditional four down front and I would expect them to Just really do everything they can to avoid the big explosive plays.
[00:12:09] So onto my crows to the game here for the Gamecocks. What does the team need to do to come out on top of this one on offense? My first crow for the game here is get more receivers involved.
[00:12:22] I'd love to see the passing game get going and see Lenoris distribute the ball to a few guys so you can get that timing, get those game reps again. Would love to see guy like, really all the, like the core four that we talked about going into this season. Jarred Brown, Mazio, Bennett, Vandravius. You didn't really see these guys against Virginia Tech get a lot of action. So let's get them some reps and let's also, of course, keep Nick harbor involved, but you want to make sure that these guys are in rhythm. And if I were to have like a crow one and a half, I'd like to see the freshman receivers get a lot of work in the second half, assuming that the score allows it.
[00:13:08] My second crow on offense here. Be better. On third down against Virginia Tech, South Carolina went 4 of 12.
[00:13:18] I'd love to see more conversions on third down so these guys can have more extended drives. Continuing to dominate time of possession and things like that. Can't be going 4 for 12 a lot of games and expect to win.
[00:13:31] Third Crow kind of leads off of that second one. Dominate the time of possession, okay?
[00:13:37] That needs to be a theme of this team moving forward. You. You need to be able to dominate your opponent, keep them off the scoreboard. And while I do think that this offense is more explosive than what we saw last year, that you could have a quick strike score, you need to be able to grind out some of these possessions. Running the ball, moving the chains when you have to. When you're in that third and medium type of deal, can you get it across the line? And that's going to be relying on your running backs and your offensive line to do their job really well, to allow you to have some of those explosive plays when you need it on defense. My first crow here is lean on the speed that you have.
[00:14:21] I can see South Carolina State trying to really spread out South Carolina and playing the width of the field.
[00:14:29] And I don't care who you're playing, that puts strain on a defense. So South Carolina needs to lean on the speed and athleticism that we have at linebacker and defensive back.
[00:14:44] Second crow to the game here. Trust your front four, okay? We will have bigger, stronger and faster guys across the board. So I don't see the need for having to blitz a lot. So the thinking here is let the guys up front get their game reps of fighting these one on one battles, fighting through these double teams here and just seeing what they can do on their own to disrupt the quarterback.
[00:15:15] My third crow on defense here is don't let SC State get comfortable early.
[00:15:21] Set the tone right away.
[00:15:23] Let them know that every yard will be tough to earn in this game. Okay? And if we were to also look at another one, like don't let them convert on third downs, right? We saw Virginia Tech have some conversions and things like that. I would expect that the superior athlete that South Carolina has can kind of naturally contain that. But if South Carolina State gets a couple early conversions, that needs to be a big point of emphasis to shut that down right away.
[00:15:57] So overall, for the game here, like, this should definitely be a game that Carolina takes control over and pulls away just full stop. That's how this game should go.
[00:16:09] South Carolina State is going to come in and they're going to play inspired football.
[00:16:13] But the fact of the matter is we have the athletes all over the field to make this one a comfortable night. So I really see two main goals from this game.
[00:16:27] One, with your ones and twos, you need to get those game reps and feel really good about the things that you worked on this week in practice following the first game, okay? Like there were things to work on pretty much at every level, right? So use this game to get all of those groups into a groove to springboard you into SEC play.
[00:16:54] I've talked about SEC play a lot for a guy that was just preaching live in the moment. But y' all kind of get what I'm saying here, right? And when I say that, like, I mean have better communication on the offensive line, get the other receivers involved, convert on third downs. And it's just doing those little things that didn't always come easy a week ago and look like there's that old adage and it is pretty true that the most you improve in college is from week one to week two.
[00:17:25] Now, we've seen Shane Beamer's teams get better and better as the year goes on, but everyone says from week one to week two, you know, you have things a little more ironed out, you shook off the rust and things like that because there is no preseason. So I expect to see that. But this is the perfect game to flex that, right? Get everyone in a really good groove.
[00:17:45] And then my second goal that I'd like to see from this, right, is at some point it would be nice to get the reserves some game reps, depending on the score, of course, but it would be great if you could get guys off the bench and get them real experience because it is a long season and getting guys in games now can pay dividends down the line. So, I mean, hopefully it's a situation where in my mind I'm picturing all of the fourth quarter starters and like really the twos are out of the game and you're working those reserves. I believe it was against Furman when Lenores was a freshman.
[00:18:27] He went into the game along with some of the backups pretty early into that game. Now granted, that was, I think it was the second to last game a year, maybe third to last game, but it was later in the year. So this being the second game, you still want to get those top guys the reps because you're trying to get them in that groove. It's still early in the season, but a couple of names I'd like to see. Matthew Fuller, Jarwan Howell. I'd like to see, you know, maybe a guy like Xavian Hardy play a good bit as well as some of those younger edge rushers that we have as well. And you know what? Cherry on top would be getting to see Luke Doty play a quarterback for like all of the fourth quarter. Like, let's absolutely do it. That'd be a lot of fun to see Luke back under center in a real game playing meaningful reps for, you know, for, you know, a few drives there. That would be a lot of fun. But it is tricky to strike a balance between playing those reserves a good bit and not, you know, because you don't want to have a situation where guys maybe aren't as sharp as they could have been coming out of this one. So I think Shane Beamer and staff are going to be doing some evaluation at halftime and I think as we get into that third quarter, I think the scoreboard will dictate a lot of it. But there could be some things that they want to keep working on and they, and they leave, you know, a Rasul Faison out there with, with the offensive line and say, hey, let, let's try and see what we can do here. But nonetheless, it should be a really fun night and it should be a comfortable one for the Gamecocks. It's a great time to improve on things that need to be worked on and have a little bit of a breath in after what was a pretty intense week one right before we get into conference play.
[00:20:20] But all right, let me give y' all my six pack of picks and then I will get y' all out of here.
[00:20:27] Big 12 I'm going Kansas plus six and a half versus Mizzou. Big 10 Illinois minus three versus Duke. This is a very interesting game here. ACC Virginia versus NC State under 54 and a half sec. I'm going Ole Miss minus eight and a half versus Kentucky. I have no faith in Kentucky this year.
[00:20:50] Michigan versus Oklahoma, under 45 and a half. Probably the game of the night, honestly. And then gain a group of five. Excuse me. West Virginia at Ohio over 60 and a half.
[00:21:06] But with that, y', all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cocks.
