South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is once again looking to spark a late-season surge — something that’s become a trademark of his tenure in Columbia. Sitting at 3-3, the Gamecocks are searching for the same second-half magic that turned past seasons around.
The year began with College Football Playoff dreams, but those hopes have dimmed. Still, Beamer insists there’s plenty left to play for.
“I think the only thing I take from it is just continuing to just keep getting better,” Beamer said. “What’s next? And what’s in front of us? That’s in the past, that’s in the rearview mirror, the first six games. We’ve learned from it, but it’s behind us.”
Beamer pointed to the 2022 season, when South Carolina bounced back from a tough loss at Florida to post back-to-back top-10 wins over Tennessee and Clemson. He also referenced last year’s 3-3 start, which ended with a six-game win streak and a bowl berth.
“Two years ago, after Florida, last year after Ole Miss and then Alabama, it was that’s behind us,” Beamer said. “All we can control is what’s next. Right now, what’s next is having great practices and focusing on Oklahoma this Saturday. Control what you can control — and keep getting better.”
That message, Beamer said, has always been central to South Carolina’s identity.
“That’s what I told the team out there at the end of practice today,” he added. “We’ve always been a team that has gotten better as the year has gone. You can say a lot about the teams I’ve coached, but one thing you can’t say is that we haven’t improved every single season.”
And according to Beamer, that progress is already visible in 2025.
“We didn’t win the game, but I saw signs of that on Saturday,” he said. “And the way we practiced Sunday night and today — I see us getting better.”
Beamer’s belief remains firm: the Gamecocks can still write a strong ending to their story.
“The key for us, like in previous years, is to just keep moving forward,” he said. “We can’t sit around and be sad boys because we’re 3-3 and just lost a heartbreaker to LSU. It’s pick yourself off the mat and get ready to go again. That’s life. That’s what we did in ’22, what we did in ’23, and what we need to do again this year.”
