Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks post game analysis as the Gamecocks knock off Texas A and M for another Shane Beamer signature win. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode 271 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And how about those Gamecocks? How about that? How is that for kicking the door down? That is an emphatic moment on this Gamecocks football program, let alone on this season to show the SEC and the college football world what we have been saying all along, that the Gamecocks football team this year is for real. And Williams Bryce Stadium is the best place to play and the hardest place to play if you're an opponent.
[00:01:48] Wow. What a moment, y'all. What a moment. I hope y'all are soaking this one in, because I certainly am. Read up on every article, listen to every podcast, watch every highlight you possibly can, because this one was earned and deserved.
[00:02:10] I'm going to be spending the whole episode talking about this game here, respectfully. This is a day of celebration. This is a moment of celebration.
[00:02:22] And it's just one where, you know, I've talked about this before.
[00:02:27] You know, you're a diehard, right? We love the Gamecocks. We live and breathe Gamecock football. We look forward to this time of year. You only get 12 Saturdays out of the year to enjoy this. It means something.
[00:02:42] And when you put time, energy, emotion, money towards something, you know, you do it. It's a labor of love. Because sports, you know, you can only do so much, right? But when you get something back like this, and you get that moment that you so desperately crave and that victory that you so desperately want, it just feels so, so good and rewarding. You know what I mean? I am so happy for all of us. I am so happy for anyone who supports the Gamecocks, whether you went to the university, whether you're a friend, a family member, whatever.
[00:03:33] I am so, so happy for us. And of course, I'm incredibly happy and proud of the team from everybody in that building. Support staff, nutrition, strength, the players, grad assistants, you know, of course, the on field staff, all the way up to the coordinators and Shane Beamer.
[00:03:56] That was a team, team effort and a team, team win Saturday. And you're seeing this thing come together before our very eyes where the team has continued to level up and progress and develop, and you just feel it like one step at a time. And it's tough going because it's competition and to see it come together like that Saturday night and to get that result, a top 10 win, I believe it's the third largest margin of victory in an AP top 10 win ever in program history.
[00:04:34] It's a signature win. It's a signature moment.
[00:04:39] It just feels so, so good. It just feels amazing. I'm so happy for all of us, truly, you know, and for a fan base and for a team, you know, a program that was on the edge of this thing twice this year, twice to have been on the edge of that amazing upset.
[00:05:05] A program defining win, if you will, certainly a season defining win, right?
[00:05:12] To come up just short, twice to get that one last opportunity, Third times, the charm. And it was, it just, it feels that much better. And you know, yes, we can sit here and play the what if game. And it's intoxicating and it's just tough to think of, well, what if some of those went differently?
[00:05:34] We are where we are. This is an incredible moment. There's still a lot of good football and potential ahead of this team. But maybe, just maybe, there's a world where because of what this team went through with the lsu, Alabama games, and maybe even to an agree to a degree, Ole Miss, maybe some of those failings taught everyone a little something. And I think what you saw in that second half against Texas A and M was a team say, we're not letting this happen again, not again. We're going to close the door on that. We're going to stop their momentum, we're going to step on their throats and the offense is going to continue to progress and continue to move the ball and continue to put points on the board and we're going to play complimentary football for the rest of the way. You know, they were playing it for four quarters and it was a beautiful sight to see.
[00:06:37] I'm so, so happy for the fan base, for the team. Top 10 win at home, storming the field, everything that you wanted it to be, it was that and more. And it's funny because that first half we were in the trenches. I mean, I think in that first half you probably experienced every human emotion that you possibly can. I mean, you jump out to that 14 nothing lead.
[00:07:05] I mean, me personally, I had flashbacks to Tennessee in 2022, where I was thinking, oh my God, are we about to just jump out on these guys and just mow through them?
[00:07:19] But, you know, Texas A and M comes back, ends up taking the lead late in that second quarter. And at that point, I'm thinking, well, well, here we go again. You know, got up to that early lead, not able to sustain it. Damn, you know, they're a top 10 team. It makes sense, right?
[00:07:40] And then I put this out on social media. But I think one of the more underrated parts of the game on Saturday night was actually Alex Herrera tying the game right before the half for a few reasons here. Okay, Herrera caught his fair share of criticism, some of which I went on record saying I didn't think all of it was warranted. But he was a guy who had some big time kicks in these close games that we talked about. Alabama and LSU, tough missed kicks.
[00:08:12] You turn to him at a 44 yarder and I believe in the Alabama game It was a 45 yard that he missed and that would have been his career long. So I'm thinking this is going to be a tough one here.
[00:08:25] The team was aggressive in moving down the field. Yeah, you maybe got a little help with penalty, things like that, but they were aggressive and trying to get points. Before the half, I was sitting on my couch saying, you know what, take them to the half. You're right there, you can get it right. You can get. After the break, they were aggressive, got themselves within field goal range. And then to tie that, it kind of leveled things off. And you could kind of exhale and say, okay, we are able to get some points here. Like we are able to really hang with these guys. Everything is square because you needed to find a way to get a little bit of that momentum back. And that's exactly what Alex Herrera did right before the half. And I bet you Shane Beamer went into that locker room and said, hey, look like couple of mistakes, let them back into this game.
[00:09:16] But we are all square. We are have them right where we want them to and we're going to be aggressive the rest of the way on both sides of the ball and we're going to finish this thing. And that's what the team did.
[00:09:29] And then in that second half, I mean, one thing leads to the next and you know, you're up 10 points at the end of the third, you know, or you know, going into the fourth. So you end up winning by 24 points. And that fourth quarter, like you're on the edge of your seat the entire time, but all things considered, kind of smooth sailing, you know what I'm trying to say? Like, you know, you had this wide range of emotions roller coaster for the first half, but South Carolina was in the driver's seat for that second half. The defense Just absolutely bottling up Texas A and M, not allowing them to run, not allowing Reed to get in a rhythm. And the one time he did od, Fortune makes a huge play and gets the pick. And that's exactly what this team needed to do.
[00:10:18] You know, you saw it in the first half, they were kind of having their way with us a little bit. And then you're just like, the defense has to make a play here. We are a very good defense at all levels. And you just felt that if these guys can make a play and create that turnover to just stop A and M dead in their tracks, that will go a long way. And I think that's exactly what happened. It just set A and M back, you know, and you ended up keeping your pet, you know, keeping, keeping your foot on the gas, and you end up cruising to a 24 point victory, 44 to 20. And there are a lot of individual performances and I'm about to shout out, but I think the most phenomenal thing, you can't even put one above the other.
[00:11:09] But for this defense to pitch a shutout in the second half and not allow a single point in the third or fourth quarter, that is phenomenal.
[00:11:19] Phenomenal.
[00:11:21] They allowed 17 in the second quarter. Kind of, you know, a couple of weird circumstances. Yes. But they said no more.
[00:11:30] They said no more. And it was like, I, Cam Smith in 22, just drop your nuts. That's what they did. They just imposed their will.
[00:11:42] Dylan Stewart getting after it, causing havoc. Kennard right there recovering that fumble. OD Fortune. Debo. Debo Williams. Oh, my God. Two fourth and one stops. To do that in that moment, especially in the second half, was just unbelievable.
[00:12:00] And it just, you weren't giving them an inch.
[00:12:04] So to go out there and pitch a shutout is just absolutely phenomenal. And it's exactly what they needed to do.
[00:12:16] Looking at the offense here, I mean, we got to start with Lenorris. That was a brilliant performance. It wasn't always pretty. It wasn't always pretty, but it was brilliant and gutsy.
[00:12:31] I mean, he was a warrior out there. Saturday night.
[00:12:35] South Carolina didn't allow any sacks. There were plenty of opportunities where A and M would have gotten anybody else down. I think Lenoris is so big, he's so strong. He senses the pressure at such a high level, just even beyond his years. But his escapability, that's what kept this offense moving. Being able to survive that and scramble for a couple yards here. He made a couple of huge plays on broken plays where he got flushed out of the pocket, the creativity. Finding Raheem Rocket early on in the game when he rolled out, escaped some pressure. You saw that. You're saying, okay, he's keeping his eyes down field. He's sensing the pressure.
[00:13:20] There were a couple of, couple times where there were free rushers and he just absorbed some, some contact, a weak arm tackle, stepped into the pocket and delivered a strike or scrambled. He just had A and M in a blender. And that's the skill set and that's the talent that he has that got so many people excited for his potential as a starter at South Carolina.
[00:13:48] It was masterful.
[00:13:51] 27 attempts, 13 for 27. 244 yards, two touchdowns. That's not including the rushing touchdown as well. 106 yards on the ground. That is crazy. What's that? 150 yards, or excuse me, 350 of total offense just by himself. That is MVP caliber performance. When you have a quarterback in the SEC who can run and he can pass like that, you are going to have a chance in every game and he's only going to get better. And I think that's finally what we're seeing. The more game reps, the more time with these guys. He's getting better.
[00:14:31] Rocket, that was an all SEC type of performance above and beyond what you hope from him, right? 144 yards on the ground. Two tuddies going along with 92 yards receiving. Guy was doing it all that long. Touchdown run early in the second half absolutely set the tone.
[00:14:56] That's like, that's, that's your guy, that's your senior running back. You brought him to South Carolina for a reason. He came to South Carolina for a reason. And that was on display Saturday night.
[00:15:07] The tandem of Lenorris and Rocket playing bully ball. Just smash mouth, right? And that, you know, of course Lenora's can air it out, but to be able just to line up and say, hey, we got two guys who can hit you in the mouth when Lenora truck stick. That guy setting the tone.
[00:15:26] Rocket fighting for yards, finding the end zone, doing everything that you want him to do is just phenomenal.
[00:15:35] Looking like the Rocket of old Josh Simon. I mean, my goodness.
[00:15:42] What. Just monster day, you know, and he could have even had a better day. He had that tough, tough drop in the end zone. But you know he's better than that. He knows he's better than that. You saw Shane Beamer go up to him right when. Right when he came off to the sideline and, you know, gave him a little pat on the back, said something to it, you know, to him, probably saying, hey, we're going to need you later in this game. Where to keep coming to you. And four receptions, 132 yards, two touchdowns, that last one, nail in the coffin, long catch and run. That's the Josh Simon that I have been so excited for. Whenever that comes out, the athleticism, the size, the speed, that's tough to compete with. So you have a trifecta of players who have a incredible skill set that are matchup nightmares for any team. And this is the type of football that wins in November and that can go on the road, say to Nashville or to the Upstate and then can play.
[00:16:41] And of course, the defense can do that as well.
[00:16:46] Now, I would have liked to see another wide receiver step up. You know, you didn't really have anyone have too many more receptions outside of Josh and Rocket Mazio. He got hurt. I hope he's okay. That was a B.S. no call on him. You know, Jared Brown had the one catch. So if we're going to look at maybe what's that next step in this offense moving forward, I would say it's that and it's something that we've talked about week over week where, okay, who's the next wide receiver to take a step in this thing? Who can be that guy?
[00:17:22] So hopefully, as we continue to get, you know, moving into this thing, we can find games where, hey, like this is the Jared Brown game where he gets four or five reception again and really gets going and can compliment Josh Simon well, but I mean, credit to Dowel Loggins. I mean, he had a game plan and then he looked at what A and M was giving us and he said, if this is not broke, I'm not going to fix it. And we're just going to put trust in Lenorris to make the easy reads and he can run it. And we're going to let Raheem Rocket take over this thing. We're just going to play ground and pound football and then when we need to air it out, we can dish it to Rocket or we have Josh Simon in a crosser, you know, and there were some downfield shots. Don't, you know, don't get that twisted. There was the one or two to Harbor. I think there was a long one to Jared Brown too, if I'm not mistaken. Just you just didn't quite connect on it.
[00:18:20] So there were those attempts, but you didn't have to do that because you had Lenorris and Rocket playing so brilliantly, you know, and to have this whole staff have those guys perform the way they did in the second half, it was truly phenomenal.
[00:18:37] Truly phenomenal. Offense, defense, and special teams all did their job. Have to call out that wacky, wacky kickoff that was called that. Ended up giving A and M really good field position. Ended up giving up some points. I don't know what the hell that was all about. I really don't. I mean, you got the W comfortably. At the end of the day, that's got to be a call from Shane Beamer. I don't understand what the possible benefit of that was, but it seems like that's another learning experience that, you know, hey, we can just play normal football, you know, like, you just beat a top 10 team, despite shooting yourself in the foot there for a minute, you beat them comfortably. So the rest of the way, you know, yeah, maybe we can do some wrinkles here and there situationally of maybe like a fake punt or something like that, but we can just line up and play 10 toes down. So a couple of things you want to clean up there. No penalties, I believe, right? That's fantastic.
[00:19:42] The run blocking, I mean, you know, talked about that going into this game. The run blocking was obviously better. Just look at what Rocket did.
[00:19:49] And it's just. This is the fantastic moment, so enjoy it, y'all. We deserved this. The team deserves this. Our university deserves this.
[00:20:00] And November to remember, right? It was a question of, hey, just how good can this team end this year? Step one, big, big check mark, top 10 win at home, national TV at night. Really, really incredibly impressive stuff there. You got a couple challenges left going on the road next week. If you can keep this thing rolling, it's all right there on the table. But amazing team effort there. Complimentary football for four quarters. Smart football, really. Just not letting up an inch. Taking the blows from A and M, right? They had a good second quarter, saying, all right, hey, we got this.
[00:20:42] It's amazing. It. It is amazing. And hopefully it's just this sign of things to come for the rest of the year. And especially on the offensive side of the ball with Lenorris, that was a. I think that was just a mere glimpse into just how good he can be if he develops that, you know, continued accuracy with throwing the ball, those short and intermediate throws, it's dangerous. But right now, he is still dangerous. And when you get that combo going and then you mix in a sprinkle of Josh Simon, and then if you can get Mazio or Harbor or someone going, really, really special stuff. Enjoy this one, y'all. I'm so happy for y'all. So happy for us. This was a great, great night, and it is great to be a Gamecock. But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media. Twitter X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please, like, subscribe or review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
