“Winning Football”: What changed for South Carolina to finally overcome the hurdle and get the signature victory

Shane Beamer paused, scratching his chin as he collected his thoughts. He tried to think of a word to describe the night he had just spent.

He could have chosen any noun to describe how he felt at that moment. Any decision he made would have been an acceptable response to evoke his feelings.

“Gratitude,” the fourth-year head coach said. “This is a core value of our program.”

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At several points this season, South Carolina came close to knocking the door down. At the time Beamer and his players thought they were in the right place, not many people understood it. Maybe it was because the big victories didn't materialize.

South Carolina had a good chance to get its decisive victory. It had the chance to do so against LSU, but penalties and further errors resulted in the 17-0 lead being squandered. Then, a few weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, the Gamecocks came close to upsetting mighty Alabama, but turnovers proved costly.

But South Carolina took full advantage of the opportunity to write a new script and ensured there was no chance of another bitter defeat on Saturday. After many close calls, the team finally achieved a breakthrough. They got the long-awaited big win, defeating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20.

This was the moment that Beamer, the players, coaches and fans had been waiting for. They have finally overcome the crisis and proven that they can beat one of the best teams in the country. And with a win like that you had to celebrate. Lots of it, in fact. As the game clock hit triple zeros, Gamecock fans stormed the field at Williams-Brice Stadium, much like they did back in 2022 after the win over Tennessee.

“I know I tell you every year, but I love coaching this group,” Beamer said. “It's so much fun to be with this team. Just the things we do off the field. The togetherness. The closeness of the team. We just had the celebration in the dressing room there. They’re just so much fun.”

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Within minutes, it was like traveling back in time to that fateful November night in 2022. The green lawn was now covered in a sea of ​​garnet and black and the fans went wild. This was the reward for South Carolina finding a way to finish what it started.

“This place was rocking from the moment we walked in from the hotel until the end of the game,” Beamer said of the atmosphere. “They had an impact on the game and I’m so happy for our fans. They deserve this and their impact makes them a real twelfth man for us out there.”

Faced with the daunting task of beating not only a top-10 team but also the best team in the conference on Saturday, the Gamecocks had their hands full. The key for Beamer and the team was to play winning football.

“Every week we have our plan to win. It never changes. Run the ball, stop the run, win the turnover battle, win the explosive play battle, play smart football, dominate the fourth quarter. That never changes. But as you know, every week I give them two or three things that I think are going to be a really crucial part of this game, and one of those for us this week was making tackles and breaks. said Beamer.

“And then we talked about how much intelligent football, how much winning football can we play? … That would also be a key to simply playing winning football. And that's the thing. Probably go back to your question about what gets us over the hump in our games where we fell short, be it Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, we didn't play enough football.”

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In the losses to LSU and Alabama, the Gamecocks led until the fourth quarter in both meetings. But when push came to shove, South Carolina was the team that got pushed around and let the other team do what they had to do to get a win. Not this time, however.

“Probably go back to your question about what gets us over the hump in our games where we've fallen short, be it Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, we haven't played enough winning football. There was just too much to beat ourselves about. There was a lot of that tonight,” Beamer said. “I mean, we gave up a 70-yard touchdown run because we were misaligned on defense and had two players the same distance apart. And we had a turnover on offense when we had momentum and also did some things that didn't result in winning the football. But we had a lot of successful football plays tonight and that was just a key for us that we talked about all week.”

It's not just a big deal for Beamer and the team to win. It shows there is a way to make these wins more regular. In the same spirit, it's a win that brings South Carolina one step closer to its ultimate goals for the season. And with four games to go there is still a lot to do.

“In today’s college athletics with the transfer portal and NIL, it’s refreshing that this is a group that believes in each other,” Beamer said. “I’m just so grateful to be the head coach here. I am so grateful that, as you say, I overcame the crisis and achieved such a victory. I’m so grateful to coach these guys and see the smiles on their faces in the locker room.”