It’s not often a 38-10 victory leaves more questions than answers, but South Carolina football walked away from Saturday’s win over S.C. State with a long list of concerns.
The most pressing issue is health. Injuries piled up quickly for the Gamecocks, thinning the roster and forcing inexperienced players into action. Defensive backs Jalon Kilgore and Judge Collier were already unavailable before kickoff. During the game, Brandon Cisse, Vicari Swain, Markee Anderson, Jaquel Holman, Brady Hunt, and Josiah Thompson all joined the sideline.
The attrition was noticeable. “It’ll be too long to name, guys, so don’t even ask … It’s not good,” Shane Beamer admitted when asked about the growing injury list.
Beamer detailed how thin the secondary became as the game unfolded. “Obviously we were down Jalon Kilgore going into the game. Brandon Cisse got hurt early in the game. Our third-team nickel is Jaquel Holman, he got hurt in the first quarter. We were literally down to our fourth nickel,” he explained.
By halftime, Holman’s left arm was in a sling, leaving redshirt freshman Kelvin Hunter to step in at nickelback. “We had some other injuries as it went: Brady Hunt, Josiah Thompson, the [defensive backs]. I’ll have a better answer for you (Sunday) night on the teleconference,” Beamer added. “Jalon Kilgore is out, your starting nickel, and then you lose Brandon Cisse, your other nickel, and then you lost Jaquel Holman, your other nickel, as well. It gets pretty dicey in there.”
Star returner Vicari Swain, who had already delivered two punt-return touchdowns, was spotted in street clothes on the sideline later in the game. He appeared comfortable, chatting with teammates, and wasn’t visibly favoring any injury — though no details were given.
Offensive Issues
Beyond the injuries, the offense raised red flags of its own. The Gamecocks managed just two offensive touchdowns all night and spent most of the first half sputtering.
“Certainly a sloppy first half from an offensive standpoint. I think field position had a big reason for that, not to make excuses,” Beamer said. South Carolina started three of its 10 offensive possessions inside its own 15-yard line.
The results were underwhelming: three punts and two field goals on the team’s five first-half drives. The first offensive touchdown didn’t arrive until nearly four minutes into the third quarter.
“We know we need to be a lot better,” Beamer admitted. “We can’t rely on our defense and special teams to score three touchdowns a game.” He added that the Gamecocks missed opportunities to execute on plays they had identified as key. “There were some plays in the first half that we thought were good, that we knew we needed to get back to, that we didn’t quite execute in the right way in the first half.”
Looking Ahead
Despite the double-digit win, the Gamecocks left Williams-Brice Stadium more banged up than before and with plenty of work to do on offense. With the SEC opener looming, South Carolina has less than a week to regroup.
The Gamecocks (2-0) will face Vanderbilt (2-0) at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Williams-Brice Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
