Beamer Balances Praise and Criticism After 45-9 Win Over Towson / sportsearchers.com

South Carolina improved to 2-0 on the season with a 45-9 win over Towson, powered by Vicari Swain’s two punt-return touchdowns and a 502-yard offensive output, but head coach Shane Beamer made clear in his postgame press conference that the win came with real areas of concern.

On the Kicking Situation

Beamer addressed why newly signed kicker Ethan Sanchez didn’t see the field, clarifying it was entirely his call: “I made the decision not to play Ethan tonight. It was purely my decision, and I am hopeful that he will be able to roll as we move forward. I see Max and Malik, and Ethan has made them better in practice since Ethan got here. We’ve got to continue to take steps in the kicking game.” Starting kicker Max Kelley made one field goal but missed another, while Malik Orsan handled extra-point duties, going 3-for-3.

Frustration Over Drops and Penalties

Beamer didn’t hold back regarding the offense’s sloppier moments, particularly dropped passes and pre-snap penalties, and warned the mistakes wouldn’t be tolerated against tougher SEC competition: “If I felt like it had been a pattern in practice, I would have a better answer for you. I haven’t seen it in practice. We certainly need to do better. There were some inexcusable drops. We’ve got to get it corrected. If we continue to drop balls in this league… and we make some of the mistakes we made tonight, we are going to get our butts kicked.” He continued, emphasizing the broader standard the mistakes fell short of: “It starts with playing winning football and that is what we didn’t do enough of tonight. Too many drops, too many penalties. It feels like more than six (penalties). Pre-snap stuff, too many drops and missed assignments on offense and defense tonight. To do that against the teams we are going to play the rest of the season, it will cost us.”

Praise for the Response After Halftime and the Weather Delay

Despite his frustration with the first half, Beamer was notably pleased with how his team responded after both halftime and the nearly 75-minute weather delay: “Really in the first half, I wasn’t pleased with how we played in all three phases and we executed and coached. It is on all of us. Really, really happy with the response of the team after halftime and after the weather delay.” He specifically praised the team for avoiding a common pitfall of teams with comfortable leads: “I have seen a lot of teams not play great and score isn’t what you think it is at halftime and go out and screw around in the second half and make it closer than it needs to be. We didn’t do that. We went out to start the second half, got a three and out and the offense went right down and scored.” Beamer closed that point by underscoring the need for more complete performances going forward: “For us to come out and play like we did (after the delay), we finished the right way. We need to make sure we put four quarters together, going forward. I was proud of the leadership that these guys showed.”

Celebrating Vicari Swain’s Historic Night

The clear highlight of the evening was Vicari Swain’s two punt-return touchdowns, a milestone Beamer celebrated enthusiastically — especially given the timing: “What a night for Vicari on his birthday to return two for touchdowns. We told the team on Tuesday that in the team meeting that we have an edge, we feel like we have an edge every week (in special teams) and would be disappointed if we didn’t score on special teams tonight. To do it twice was awesome.” Beamer even recalled predicting the first touchdown in real time while on headsets with his defensive coaches: “The defensive coaches can confirm because I was on the headsets with them that as soon as the ball was punted on the first one he ran back. When it was in the air, I said ‘touchdown.’ Because I saw the way we were blocking and saw he was going to have it started and he did.” He capped his comments on Swain with high praise for his overall impact: “What a play he made on the second one, too… He is a weapon back there.”