South Carolina finally broke the pattern that had haunted it all season, and the switch seemed to flip in the Florida locker room.
The Gamecocks had been carrying a second-half problem into Oct. 10, with losses in their last four SEC games when they led after halftime. Before beating Florida, South Carolina had already watched halftime advantages disappear against Mississippi State, by 9 points, and Kentucky, by 10, both in 2026. In its first three SEC games, the offense never even scored in the third quarter.
That changed in the Swamp. South Carolina scored 21 second-half points against the then 16th-ranked Gators, put together two third-quarter touchdowns and finished off an upset road win.
So what was different when the team came out of the break?
A South Carolina social media video offered a glimpse. The clip was filmed during the 45-minute lightning delay that followed the first half, and it showed a locker room that looked more like a pep rally than a holding pattern.
Tight ends coach Shawn Elliott stormed through yelling for players to get on their feet and “ramp up.” Senior DT Kelby Collins repeated the same message.
Donovan Murph hit a locker. Strength coach Luke Day bounced around screaming “Let’s gooo!”
Music was blasting, guys were singing and dancing, and the whole scene had the feel of a team that was itching to get back on the field.
The post was captioned, “We knew,” which only works because the Gamecocks won. There were no similar locker-room clips after the losses to Mississippi State and Kentucky, so there’s no way to know whether that same kind of energy ever showed up in those games.
Jabree Coleman said the mood at halftime in Florida stood apart from anything South Carolina had experienced this season.
“The energy at halftime, it was different than any game we played this season,” RB Jabree Coleman said of the locker room at Florida. “We knew we were coming out of halftime starting slow, so we wanted to do everything in our power to start the third quarter fast. So that energy we had at halftime, I feel like that really helped us.”
Shane Beamer saw the same thing, and he connected it directly to the delay. With players stuck inside for so long, he said, their energy level kept climbing. Some were already helmeted and ready to hit the field before the all-clear arrived.
“Because they were in there so long, they were truly like bouncing off the walls and ready to go,” Beamer said Tuesday. “(They were) probably a little bit more amped up, and I think a lot of that had to do with the weather delay.”
Beamer also acknowledged the obvious backdrop: after the way South Carolina had played third quarters this season, the group knew what outsiders were thinking when it took another halftime lead. He said the players insisted they never let that doubt creep in, but he didn’t deny the added edge.
“Let’s be real,” Beamer said, “it was probably a little bit more (energy) against Florida just because of the way that we had played in the third quarters of games this season.”
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South Carolina Has A Real Chance To Shake Up Tennessee
A little more than halfway through the season, South Carolina is getting a real spotlight game at Williams-Brice Stadium, and the matchup has started to draw attention beyond Columbia. With the game set for an ESPN broadcast in Week 8, the Gamecocks are about to get a chance to show whether their recent work on the ground and on defense can travel into one of the biggest stages on the schedule.
David Pollack, the former Georgia linebacker turned college football analyst, thinks this is the kind of spot where South Carolina can shake things up against Tennessee. His read is rooted in the same formula that has given the Gamecocks a path in close games: a strong running attack and a defense capable of making life difficult. Whether that adds up to an upset is still the question, but it is enough to make this one worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Defense Faces Its Real Test After Florida Turnaround
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Now comes the real measure of whether that turnaround can stick. Tennessee brings a strong running offense into the matchup, which means South Carolinas front and tackling discipline will be stressed in a different way than they were against Florida. If the Gamecocks can carry over the same effort and consistency, they may have something more lasting than a one-game fix. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina May Have Found A Freshman Anchor Up Front
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Grays steady play has now earned him a spot on On3s Midseason True Freshman All-America team, and the numbers back up the eye test. Pro Football Focus has him graded among the top pass protectors at his position among true freshman offensive tackles, a promising sign for a unit that still has room to grow as the season moves along. [Read more 🡒]