South Carolina may have to open the season without two of its biggest defensive names.
Shane Beamer gave the clearest update yet Wednesday on Jacarrius Peak and Dylan Stewart, and the picture for Sept. 5 against Kent State still isn’t settled. In an interview with On3’s Chris Low, Beamer said both players are dealing with injuries that are not expected to be long-term, but he also made it sound like Week 1 could come too soon.
“Neither are long-term injuries. They’re going to play and want to play. I just don’t know that it’s realistic to think they will be back for the start of the season,” Beamer told On3.
Beamer has avoided a hard yes-or-no answer in previous media sessions, and he didn’t cross that line this time either. But the latest comments suggest the Gamecocks are preparing for the possibility that neither Peak nor Stewart is available when the season starts.
That lines up with what reporters saw earlier this week. On Sunday, the last practice period open to local media, neither player was working out.
Stewart was watching from the sideline, while Peak was taking laps barefoot around the field with a medicine ball and a USC strength coach. Low reported that both players have not practiced at all during preseason camp.
Beamer sounded more optimistic in his Tuesday meeting with local media, saying both players are progressing through weekly benchmarks and medical checkups.
“Peak and Stewart, I know, are always the hot questions and they continue to be on track,” Beamer told local media Tuesday. “They each have benchmarks that they’re accomplishing each week and checkups that they have with doctors and specialists.
And both of them had those last week, and everything was positive and ahead of schedule in some ways. So they’re both eager to get back out there and are closer and closer each and every day since I’ve seen you guys last.”
Peak has been working back from a knee injury suffered in February that kept him out of spring practice. Stewart is dealing with a back issue that has lingered since last season.
If both miss the opener, South Carolina should still be in good shape. The Gamecocks are a 36.5-point favorite over Kent State and would be expected to handle business without them. There’s also another chance to be cautious in Week 2, when South Carolina hosts Towson.
If the staff takes that route, the target would likely be Week 3 and Mississippi State on Sept. 19, when South Carolina opens SEC play.
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