Despite criticism from last week's win over Jacksonville State, South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer will continue to celebrate his team's wins, he said said in a press conference Tuesday.
“We are always gonna celebrate wins here guys, and we put a lot of work into Saturdays, and we only get 12 of them," Beamer said. "Some of them are really big and convincing, and we play great. And some of them are ugly as heck, and we don’t play great. But at the end of the day, we won the football game, and then, we are going to celebrate that which is what we did."
But the team still needs to play better despite the win and face the criticism, even when it comes from family, he said.
“It is still okay to be happy and celebrate a win but be disappointed in how you played and be critical of how we played," Beamer said. "I walked out of that press conference with you guys on Saturday afternoon, and I hadn’t be three feet in the hallway, and I’m catching heck from my own family about the fake punt and how dumb they thought that was.
Among those celebrating the win is redshirt senior quarterback Spencer Rattler. Beamer said that Rattler has been one of the main leaders on the team despite his "right to voice frustration."
Instead, Rattler has been encouraging the younger guys on the team, Beamer said.
"If anybody had a right to voice frustration about something, it would be him," Beamer said. "He’s been sacked a lot, been hit a lot. We have had offensive linemen hurt. We’ve had his all-conference receiver from last year out all year, but never once has he. And he is just steady and consistent. He’s done a great job just lifting up those young linemen that are protecting him and helping them.”
Beamer also said that Rattler's leadership off the field has gotten the attention of some NFL scouts, as teams evaluate Rattler and whether or not he's ready for the next step in his career.
“He's been awesome," Beamer said. "We had one of the main scouts or personnel people for the Denver Broncos. (He) was here today, and he asked me the same question. And I was like, ‘The guy has been phenomenal.’”
The Gamecocks will look to get another win this week at home against Vanderbilt and keep its bowl chances alive. The Gamecocks must win each of its last three games to become bowl eligible, with its other two opponents being Kentucky and Clemson.
South Carolina will face Vanderbilt at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network.