The South Carolina football team, which is coming off its first bye week of the season, now has its sights set on its third SEC match up of the season against No. 12 Ole Miss on Saturday.
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, head football coach Shane Beamer said players and coaches spent their time off to rest, watch film and then undergo some workouts out on the practice field.
Although the Gamecocks picked up its third win of the season in dominant fashion against Akron, the team is focused on the task ahead and applying what happened in its first four games to this weekend's matchup, redshirt senior athlete Luke Doty said.
Staying away from narratives
South Carolina last played against Ole Miss in 2020, and this time, the team will encounter a familiar face on the opposing sideline. Redshirt senior wide receiver Antwane ‘Juice’ Wells Jr. transferred from South Carolina this past offseason and landed in Oxford, Mississippi, which is the home of the Ole Miss Rebels.
Beamer said that Wells Jr. is "a good football player." But his former teammates are focusing more on themselves, rather than letting their attention stray towards Old Miss, Doty said.
“We’ve got to play well. This game is about us, and obviously, there’s a lot of other narratives surrounding the game,” Doty said. “It comes down to us, the team that we have and how well we’re going to play on Saturday.”
Relying on depth
In its 50-7 win over the Akron Zips, South Carolina saw contributions from many new faces on both sides of the ball.
“Thankfully, we’ve got a lot of guys that can go out and make plays,” Doty said. “You’ve got catches from a number of guys, not just maybe one or two. You’ve got runs from multiple different running backs and quarterbacks.”
Beamer said he has also seen his offense continue to improve week after week.
“I think every week that's a process. There’s no question we’re better at running the ball. There’s no question that each week we have to be creative on how we run the ball,” Beamer said. “You see our receiving core, those guys continue to step up and make plays.”
Junior defensive back DQ Smith, a veteran in the Gamecocks' secondary, said he has seen multiple newer new players step for the team.
"Those guys they got in, we knew they could play already and it was just building. We’re building depth. Just seeing those guys go in there doing their thing. We already knew that since they first came in," Smith said.
Containing Ole Miss' offense
Ole Miss heads into Saturday's contest with one of the most prolific offenses in the nation, as it leads both the SEC and all Division I FBS programs in yards per game with 607.2.
“I know we’re going to get the best version of Ole Miss, and what we’re focusing on is (that) they get the best version of South Carolina,” Beamer said.
The Gamecocks are on the team’s fourth game of the season and want not only to continue the success but also learn from mistakes from prior games. Fifth-year defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway said South Carolina will have to improve with communication and all being on the same page.
Smith said it is also important for the team to believe in defensive coordinator Clayton White's game plan to try and slow down Ole Miss’s offense.
On the other side of the football, Beamer said South Carolina's focus on its offensive game plans will prove to be beneficial, too.
"We've done a really good job of it offensively as well and create a lot of situations where, ‘Okay, we need a field goal. We need a touchdown. We’ve got three timeouts. We’ve got no timeout,’” Beamer said. “Whatever it might be. Creating as many situations as we can when we do it on Sundays and Thursdays."
What’s next?
The Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 SEC) will face the Ole Miss Rebels (4-1, 0-1 SEC) at William-Brice Stadium on Saturday. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and be televised on ESPN.