After a hectic weekend of college football that saw seven ranked teams fall, head coach Shane Beamer told his staff he does not want to hear anything about being an underdog this weekend against top-ranked Georgia.
"I don't want to hear one person talking about anybody can beat anybody," Beamer said. "I don't want to hear one person talking about shocking the world. I don't want to hear one person talking about we just gotta be better than them one Saturday."
Beamer said he knows his players are confident and that they did not need a weekend of upsets to feel like they could beat the Bulldogs on Saturday.
"There's great belief in our program," Beamer said. "I don't have to rally them to make them believe. They believe, they have confidence. They should – we're a really good SEC football team, and we got really good SEC football players."
Prior to the matchup against Georgia, players are focused on harmonizing their play styles. As the team continues to struggle to rush the ball, totaling just 119 yards through two games, junior offensive lineman Vershon Lee said moving as a unit is the key to potential improvement.
"Every step we take, we got to be in sync with each other," Lee said. "I feel like the more we rep it, the better it will get, so consistency is what we're trying to establish right now."
Despite redshirt junior quarterback Spencer Rattler having to roll out of the pocket more frequently due to inconsistencies along the line, Lee says the signal-caller has relieved some of his stress.
"You still have to block at the end of the day," Lee said. "You still have to block for any type of quarterback, no matter mobile or not. I feel like him being able to move off the spot – it creates more variety, and it creates rushes to have to watch and protect and make sure they're watching the scramble."
Aside from three interceptions, the Gamecocks' passing game has been strong, but redshirt sophomore running back MarShawn Lloyd believes the whole offense will run more fluidly once the run game is equally threatening.
"We just got to be able to run the ball," Lloyd said. "This is the SEC, we've got to get more carries. Our offense can't be one-dimensional. We got to be able to do both things, so I feel like once we get both of those things down pat, everything will go smoothly."
Lloyd said he already saw improvement between the first two weeks of games and noted that graduate transfer tight end Austin Stogner's blocking abilities have been a comfort to him as a runner.
"It's amazing, he's an extra o-lineman on the field," Lloyd said. "He's able to get open blocks, and he's bigger than most tight ends, so it's great to have him out there."
Stogner has not been overly explosive in the passing game, tallying just six receptions for 50 yards, but is starting to find his fit in South Carolina's offense.
"Just continuing to find my role," Stogner said. "Just like in any play, if I don't have the ball, go make a block. Just having the team first mentality, and everyone on this team does, we all play extremely hard."
South Carolina (1-1) will play in its second home game of the season when it hosts No. 1 Georgia (2-0) at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. The game kicks off at noon and will air on ESPN.