If South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer needs a spark of motivation this week, he doesn’t have to look far — college football has been full of wild turnarounds this season.
Stanford was crushed by SMU by 24 points, then stunned Florida State the following week. Arizona State lost by 32 to Utah, only to bounce back with a win over No. 7 Texas Tech. And this week’s opponent for South Carolina, No. 4 Alabama, began the season with a humbling defeat to FSU before catching fire and not losing since.
That kind of one-week revival is exactly what the Gamecocks need right now — a bit of déjà vu from their shocking 2022 turnaround, when they went from scoring just six points against Florida to hanging 63 on No. 5 Tennessee a week later.
“It may be something that as the head coach,” Beamer said this week, “I step in and say, from a schematic standpoint, we don’t need to be doing this anymore, or we need to be doing this more.”
At the moment, however, South Carolina’s offense is struggling to find its identity. The Gamecocks rank at or near the bottom of the SEC in almost every major category — last in scoring, last in rushing yards, near the bottom in third-down conversions, and second-worst in sacks allowed with 26 (only Auburn has given up more).
The offensive line’s ongoing struggles protecting quarterback LaNorris Sellers haven’t helped, and even with offensive coordinator Mike Shula’s experience and football IQ, the Gamecocks haven’t been able to establish any rhythm or consistency.
Shula, who understands the nuances of balance and creativity in offensive play-calling, seems to be overthinking things at times. One glaring example came in the Oklahoma game, when South Carolina ran eight plays inside the 10-yard line — and not one involved a designed run for their 6-foot-3, 240-pound quarterback.
“You want to have him run things that are just maybe a little bit cleaner,” Shula explained. “Those running backs are used to those dirty runs… But there’s different ways you can do that. There’s quarterback draws, there’s counters, there’s outside runs.”
While Shula isn’t wrong about protecting his quarterback, his strategy didn’t pay off. Time and again, the Gamecocks’ running backs were swallowed up by Oklahoma’s defense. Later, on a crucial third-and-2, all of South Carolina’s receivers ran long-developing routes, leaving Sellers with no quick options as pressure closed in.
“We don’t have our head in the sand saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this no matter what,’” Shula said. “We want to find out what’s the best thing you do and then put you on the field doing that thing.”
That’s been easier said than done this season. South Carolina’s offense has yet to discover what it does best — or how to execute it consistently.
Still, history shows that a miracle turnaround isn’t impossible. The question is whether Beamer and Shula can find the right formula in time to shock the world again — just as the Gamecocks did two years ago.
Kickoff vs. No. 4 Alabama is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium, and if there was ever a time for another South Carolina revival, it’s now.
