South Carolina football is coming off its bye week, which was slated after a potentially season-altering win at Florida. Now, the Gamecocks are preparing to host Tennessee, coming off a rivalry win at home over Alabama.

Ahead of the clash with the Vols, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer met with the media. Here’s what he said.

Opening statement

“Great to be back. Hope everyone enjoyed their bye week and time off, if you were able to get any. It was a good week for us. Three really good days of work last week as a team in the meeting room and on the practice field. Certainly, you know, made strides as a team. I feel like bye week came at a great time from a rest standpoint, literally the halfway point of the regular season. So, perfectly, it came at a great time from that standpoint, for sure. Players had the weekend off, coaches had Saturday off. Great to be able to rest and recover physically and mentally and to get ready for the grind of the second half. And then coaches got out recruiting Thursday and Friday. So it was great to be able to get out and see some high school football games and be in some high schools last week, talking Gamecock football. And then we got back in here on Sunday as a team, practiced Sunday night and full speed ahead on our prep for Tennessee. 

“Big night, or big week, not just with the football game, but going on here in Columbia. I know there’s a lot going on with all the other sports. I know with Dawn and Lamont, they’ve got Garnet and Black Madness. Am I saying that right? Wednesday night. So encourage everybody to get out for that, to get a peek at our basketball teams and the Soulja Boy concert to wrap up the night, which I just found out about. We’ll be over here working and making recruiting calls, but wish I could be there. And then all of our sports, feel like everybody’s got something going on this weekend or week with basketball exhibitions, equestrian, both soccer teams, volleyball, baseball, softball, I believe has stuff going on this weekend. So a lot of great things going on in Columbia.

“Want to thank the fans. I just saw where we have sold out all of the new suites across the street for the stadium. That is amazing. That’s been a big selling point with high school recruits over the last year, being able to talk about the new Williams-Brice Stadium and how great our fan base is and to be able to sell out those suites already. There’s so many great days ahead in Williams-Brice. We’ve got an awesome group of recruits that’ll be here on Saturday, that those people that bought those suites, all 54 of them, will be cheering on the players on our team that are coming back next year. And then a bunch of recruits that are going to be here on Saturday in future years, for sure. So thanks to them. 

“From a health standpoint, like I said, the bye week came at a great time. We’ll have an injury report tomorrow, but all of the guys that missed the Florida game, we expect back for Tennessee. Quay’sheed Scott would be the only one that’s a question mark right now. He’s certainly trending in the right direction, but everyone else that missed that game, we expect back from our standpoint. 

“Also want to send our well wishes and prayers to Coach Inge, their linebacker coach at Tennessee. I know he’s been battling some health issues up there and is on the road to recovery right now. I don’t believe he’s with the team. He’s recovering, but on the right track. And we’re all thinking of you here in Columbia, Coach, and wish you well going forward. And then on a little bit of a lesser note, anybody that knows anyone at Tennessee or anybody in the world of equipment across college football knows Allen Sitzler. No one has ever referred to him as Allen. Anybody that knows him knows him as Hawk. From what I’ve been told by my sources in Knoxville, he suffered a significant calf injury celebrating a Tennessee big play the other day. So we wish you well, Hawk, and look forward to seeing you on Saturday. Known him for 26 years, he’s a great friend, and that calf injury will certainly affect his golf game here going forward.

“Got a big challenge with Tennessee coming to town. Coach Heupel’s done an amazing job. Really, really good football team running the ball. Two teams, us and them, that both want to run the ball. They’ve always been that way as an offense, but they are doing a great job of it this year. Really physical is what jumps out when you watch them on tape. And then defensively, they are lights out on defense. All you have to do is watch that Alabama game from last week and turn on any game that they’ve played this season from a defensive standpoint. They are really good at all three levels of the defense. They’re really physical. They’re really well-coached. 

“Their new defensive coordinator, Coach Knowles, I can’t get away from him. My years as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, he was the defensive coordinator at Duke. Played him every year. He was a nightmare. Then I go to Oklahoma. All three years, I’m at Oklahoma. He’s the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State. So we played him every year in Bedlam. And just when I think I’ve gotten away from him, now I’m at South Carolina, and he’s at Tennessee, and we get to go up against each other again. But he’s as good as they come and has done an awesome job with their defense. So a lot of respect for their team and the way they’re playing right now. 

“If you watch that Alabama game last Saturday, which I did, it was very evident watching television how much of a factor that crowd in Knoxville was for Tennessee. I mean, they were an absolute weapon for Tennessee on Saturday. And we’re going to need our crowd to answer the bell this weekend and be an absolute factor and weapon for us this Saturday. So our players and coaches and staff, we’re excited to be back in Williams-Brice Stadium. I know our last two times in there haven’t been what we expect. It hasn’t been our standard for four quarters. We’re well aware of that and working hard to play our standard of football for 60 minutes, or however long it takes on Saturday, and need our fan base to be that also. We’ve had a few weeks away from Williams-Brice and it’ll be great to get back in there.

“A lot of electricity in Columbia. Obviously, the fair is going on across the street. So get here early. We know traffic’s going to be a challenge on Saturday. So no excuse, get here early, beat the traffic, get in there and pack that stadium and be a weapon for us on Saturday like that fan base was up in Knoxville for Tennessee last week against Alabama.”

On the differences in Tennessee’s offense this year compared to past Josh Heupel teams

“I think that’s a little bit of a misconception that maybe they haven’t always been a team that wants to line up and play physical and run the ball. They have. And even every year that we’ve played them, for them it always starts with the ability to stop the run. And then they’ve always had the really fast tempo, wide splits, spread, throwing it all over the field and being really, really hard to stop. This year, it’s maybe a little bit more 12 personnel, meaning two tight end sets, a little bit more of that this year. They still utilize tempo. They’re one of the fastest teams in the country, but maybe not as much as they had. And really they’re a downhill run team, but then when they want to throw it, they’ve got really good players on the outside at receiver too.

“And then really impressed just watching their receivers block in the run game. Like you watch their receivers in the run game, like they are trying to kill people, not just get in there and try and block you. They are trying to come in there and kill you. And I say that in a respectful way. They do a great job, and they’re a physical bunch and always have been. And maybe winning a little bit differently this way and playing a little bit different style-wise, but when you’re 6-1 and ranked, whatever they are, 11th in the country, you’re doing it the right way.”

On lessons learned from a crazy weekend of upsets last Saturday

“I think it’s just another example and reiterating that every Saturday you better come ready to play. And I think in college football now more than ever, there’s more parity because of rev-share, NIL, there’s more talent everywhere, spread out across the country, but then especially in this conference. It’s week to week, and any team can beat anybody any Saturday. I mean, there’s truly so more parity in this league probably than ever. And we’ve talked about that before as a team. So understanding that every Saturday is a war and you’ve got to be ready to play.

“But also within that, once again, the importance of the turnover margin. Like you go back and you look at all those games, Kentucky beat Oklahoma. I think they were plus four in the turnover margin Saturday. Auburn beat Georgia. I think they were plus three in the turnover margin against Georgia. Other top 25 games, Houston and Oklahoma State. I think Houston won. They were plus one. They won the turnover margin. So just being able to understand the importance of protecting the ball, creating takeaways, and then just showing up every Saturday and playing your standard. And if you do, you have a chance to be successful. And if you don’t, it’s going to be really hard on you.”

On the impact of Jim Knowles on Tennessee’s defense

“I think they have their system. I mean, I was looking back at notes from when I was at Oklahoma in 18, 19 and 20 and the game plan that we had put together with Lincoln Riley to go up against them. And you see back then, like our thoughts about his defense. There were some similarities to the 2026 defense, but then there’s some things that he’s evolved and is doing it a little bit differently. So I think it’s just a system that he has wherever he’s been, whether it be Duke, and I’ve gone against him, Oklahoma State, or now at Tennessee, like you turn on the tape, regardless of scheme, there’s a physicality and there’s an effort that they play with. That’s really, really impressive. And got a ton of respect for him. 

“And that’s what you see on tape with them. Like they play really, really hard. This D-line is really impressive, but then just the size and the experience at linebacker, the defensive backs, they’re just really well-coached, really well-coached. And guys in the secondary, Anthony Poindexter was a great player at Virginia. He’s working with their defensive backs. I mean, he’s, I guess, a year older than me, but I remember going on a recruiting trip with my dad to go watch Anthony Poindexter play basketball at Jefferson Forest High School back in 1993, 2, whatever it would have been. 

“And so I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Poindexter. He’s coaching the heck out of the secondary, along with Derek Jones, who was at Virginia Tech last season, who I’ve known for a long time. So they’ve just got – Rodney Garner coaching up front with the defensive line. They’ve just got a really good coaching staff on both sides of the ball. But Coach Knowles has his system of how they do things. They’ve got great players, and then they’ve got a great staff that’s doing a nice job.”

On if it’s a mental or physical toll on Tennessee playing their eighth game in eight weeks

“I would say both. I mean, there’s a physical grind in this league of just physicality week in, week out, and a physical grind of the talent that you play. There’s great conferences everywhere, but not every conference do you play a game on Saturdays where there’s going to be first-round draft picks on both teams every Saturday. And that’s just what it is. 

“And then there’s the mental grind, too, of just week after week, the process, the meetings, the lifting, the practices, the travel, the games, the going on the road and playing in front of 100,000 people. It’s a lot. It’s awesome, don’t get me wrong. I mean, I love it, and our players love it, but to be able to refresh and kind of get away and get refreshed mentally and physically, players, coaches, both is beneficial. 

“But at the same time, when you’re playing well, like Tennessee is, maybe you don’t want to stop. I mean, I loved having the bye week, but coming off the win over Florida, I would have been great if we came right back in here on Sunday and went right back to work and had a game the following Saturday, too. So I think sometimes that gets blown out of proportion, the when the bye is and having rest and all that. But there’s no question, there’s a mental and physical grind, but we’ve got to use that the right way, too, that, yes, we had a week to rest, but we need to make sure that we are fresh on Saturday and that we are ready to play our standard of football on Saturday for four quarters.”

On what he’s seen from Tennessee QBs Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre

“Yeah, both really, really good players. Brandon was a high school teammate of Kosci Barnes. So I remember going to, last year during our bye week, showed up at Grimsley High School in Greensboro to check in on Kosci, and Josh Heupel literally arrived at the same moment I did, and we were there at the same time. Josh to check in on the quarterback and me to check in on Kosci. So just knowing that relationship and kind of following Kosci and following Grimsley High last year, got a ton of respect for his ability as a player. It’s evident.

“And then with MacIntyre, what he’s doing, too, you see him continuing to get better each and every week with his ability to run the offense, get rid of the ball when it’s not there in the passing game, sit in the pocket, throw the ball downfield, but make good decisions and continue to just kind of play winning football. And that’s what I think both those guys are doing a great job of, is playing winning football.”

On if he brings up the 2022 upset of Tennessee to his team

“Not really. Peyton (Williams) was the only one that was here, I think. It was magical. I’m sure a lot of those guys were here as recruits, and they’re aware. I think I touched on it this morning for maybe five seconds in the team meeting, but it was more that Tennessee hasn’t been in Columbia since 2022, and we haven’t played them since, what, ‘23? So it was more just kind of touching on that. More important than reminiscing about that night is understanding how well we played that night in all three phases and preparing that way this week to go up against a completely different Tennessee team that was a great challenge back in 2022 and will be a great challenge this Saturday also.”