Shane Beamer explains a few play calls, coaching decisions from Saturday

South Carolina went through a lot of struggles Saturday night, part of it because the Gamecocks lost individual battles but another reason was a few head-scratching play calls over the course of the game. 

Everyone happened on either third or fourth down and none bigger–especially early–than a Spencer Rattler pick-six to end the first half. 

Backed up in their own end and facing a third and 22, South Carolina opted to throw the ball. The ball was an “inch too high,” Spencer Rattler said, and he overthrew him resulting in a big momentum swing. 

[Big Game Special! Get 50% off of a GamecockCentral membership!]

“There was. I think there were a couple of things there. We thought about it. They had two timeouts. I know they had at least one, I think they had two timeouts. I knew if we ran the ball they were going to call timeout if we don’t get it. Now you’re backed up and throwing to their punt returner that’s averaging 21 yards a return right now. That’s scary right now as well.”

South Carolina put the ball in the hands of Rattler there with less than a minute to go until halftime and it backfired. 

O’Mega Blake was relatively open but the ball sailed over his head and right into the hands of a Tennessee defender en route to a game-swinging touchdown. 

[Win a custom wooden Gamecock flag]

The Gamecocks went from down just seven to down 14 in the blink of an eye. They never made it a one-score game again. 

“I trust Spencer. That’s what I told him. I told Dowell (Loggains) to throw it there because I trust Spencer in that situation. Obviously a tough way to finish the half. We thought about running it,” Beamer said. 

“Maybe you pop one for a first down. But the odds say they’re going to get a stop, call timeout and you’re backed up and punting to a really good returner. Then you’re giving them good field position when you know they’re explosive on offense.” 

The Gamecocks were a paltry 4-for-19 on third and fourth downs combined and a few big fourth downs failing on short yardage situations. 

A pass to Xavier Legette was just short in the first half and the Gamecocks–after failing on second and third and one–couldn’t pick up six inches on fourth down on a quarterback sneak. 

The Gamecocks could have opted to call for a measurement or review but chose to rush to the line and snap the ball. Beamer, speaking on that decision after the game, mentioned the call looked right on the field and they wanted to go quickly. 

[Get breaking news from GamecockCentral]

“If you’re asking the question I assume it looked closer than what it was on television maybe. On the sideline, I thought we were short on the sideline. I saw it was essentially six inches,” Beamer said. “You got six inches on a quarterback sneak. We did not. We knew we were going for it. I already told Dowell it was two downs. We knew we were going for it on fourth down. I wanted to just kind of go and go quick.” 

That was the story of the night. South Carolina failed to execute for a few reasons while losing 41-20 to the Vols. The Gamecocks were 1-for-8 on third downs in the first half and just 1-for-6 after the break, averaging 2.6 yards per third down.

They averaged 6.4 yards to go on third downs Saturday while going a staggering 1-for-7 on third and shorts (0-4 yards). Tennessee went 7-for-15 on third down (4-for-4 on third and short) while averaging 7.3 yards per play. 

“We had a third down early on the first drive where we ran the route at the wrong depth. We have a fourth down where the route depth is not where it needs to be,” Beamer said. “And we fake a punt and have field position in plus territory and get no points out of it. That’s tough…Fourth down and six inches and we can’t get fourth down on six inches. That’s disappointing.”

[NEW! GamecockCentral Business Network]

It was the story of the game with execution and some questionable play calling mixed in as well as the offense struggling for consistency yet again. 

“We’re going to look back at this thing with a lot of missed opportunities from our standpoint,” Beamer said. “There were third and fourth downs we just didn’t convert. When you go 2-for-14 on third down and 2-for-5 on fourth down conversions, you make it tough on yourself.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!

The post Shane Beamer explains a few play calls, coaching decisions from Saturday appeared first on On3.