COLUMBIA - South Carolina keeps putting itself in position to breathe easy, then somehow ends up gasping instead.
That was the story again against Kentucky, when a 17-0 cushion built on a dominant start started to slip away after Jabree Coleman lost the ball and a Kentuckian pounced on it. From there, the feeling inside Williams-Brice Stadium was impossible to miss: here we go again.
Coach Shane Beamer said as much afterward, and the numbers back up the unease. The Gamecocks have now blown a double-digit lead 12 times in Beamer’s tenure, including nine times at Williams-Brice Stadium.
They’ve still managed to win five of those 12, with Beamer’s first SEC victory in 2021 among them, but the recent trend has turned ugly. South Carolina has dropped its last three such games, and three of those eight most recent instances came against non-Power 4 teams and USC.
In the SEC, it’s three of the past four conference games, with Alabama two games ago never giving South Carolina a lead in the first place.
Beamer said there’s no mystery about the frustration. The Gamecocks have shown they can get out in front. They just haven’t been able to put games away.
“I know these guys care, and they’re playing their hearts out and battling their butts off and we’ve just got to continue to emphasize, ‘Don’t try and do too much. Just execute your responsibility, and if you execute your responsibility and it doesn’t work, that’s on us as coaches for having you in the wrong scheme,’” Beamer said.
That message has become a familiar one. Beamer pointed back to the 2024 season, when South Carolina started 3-3 before finishing the regular season 9-3, as proof the program can steady itself after a rough stretch. He also brought up 2021, when the Gamecocks rallied from deficits against East Carolina, Florida and Auburn - with ECU and Auburn both double-digit comebacks - and won all three.
But this run of collapses has clearly worn on him.
“We’ve always been a team that’s been really, really good when we’ve been ahead, but for whatever reason, we’re in this rut right now where we get ahead and we just haven’t been able to finish,” Beamer said. “And it’s something that we’re emphasizing, but clearly I’ve got to do a better job of getting us to finish games.”
The Kentucky loss also fit into a broader pattern of near-misses at home, and Beamer’s players have been living through reminders of last year’s pain. During one preseason camp day, while SEC Network was replaying South Carolina’s game at Texas A&M from last season, David Bucey was at the podium speaking about practice just as the Aggies scored to cut it to 30-17 USC. Everyone in the room remembered what happened next.
Beamer said even in the Kentucky game, some people may have felt, “here we go again” as the lead began to disappear. His players, he said, “never flinched.”
They did respond and managed to take two leads, but Kentucky was the sharper team when it mattered. The Wildcats looked more confident, more prepared for the moment and more able to summon the play that decided the game.
If South Carolina could hit a reset button, it would. That kind of fix is easy to imagine when it happens once. It gets much harder to stomach when it keeps happening.
The Gamecocks’ latest setback came on a day when the weather at least cooperated. Forecasts had looked ugly earlier in the week, but the game itself was played without interruption under cloudy skies, with only a light sprinkling before kickoff. That was a relief for South Carolina and its fans after the previous three home games had been affected by weather.
More rain could be waiting ahead. As of Wednesday night, there was over an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms in Gainesville for Saturday’s game at No. 16 Florida.
Beamer was asked why football can’t handle weather the way baseball and softball sometimes do, with games moved earlier or later depending on the forecast. His answer was simple: television controls the schedule, and unless a hurricane or another natural disaster makes it impossible to play, the kickoff time stays put.
“We’ve had some home games this year where I’ve been told that everything was going to be great weather-wise and it looks good, and then it’s the storm of the century like we had against Towson and then lightning against Mississippi State and all that,” Beamer said. “Whenever, wherever they tell us to play, we’ll be there.”
And if the choice were his, could the SEC and the networks work together and find a better window?
“Certainly you look at the forecast and you say, ‘OK, it’s good during this window, so let’s play here,’” Beamer said if he had the choice. “Beyond that, that’s above my pay grade.”
In Other News...
South Carolinas Return Game Just Put Nyck Harbor On Notice
South Carolina made a noticeable tweak on special teams against Mississippi State, turning its kickoff return duties from Nyck Harbor to Jaquel Holman during the game. The switch was not a surprise in the sense that both players have been in the mix this season, but it did add a little more clarity to how the Gamecocks are evaluating the role as the year goes on.
Special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley said Holman has shown improvement and brings a fearless approach to returning kicks, which helps explain why the staff wanted to see him in that spot. Holman has averaged 23 yards on four returns this season, while Harbor has averaged 19.3 yards on four returns, leaving South Carolina with at least one more interesting decision to sort through as the return game develops. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Is Still Chasing A Defensive Line Target To Watch
South Carolina is continuing to work the board on the defensive line, and 2027 prospect Gehrig Felix has emerged as a name worth watching. The South Alabama commit made a visit to the Gamecocks for their game against Kentucky, where he met with coaches and spent time talking through how he could fit into Travian Robertsons defense.
Felix has been productive this senior season, with 19 tackles and four for loss in six games, and that kind of early impact is exactly why South Carolina remains interested. For the Gamecocks, the visit was another chance to make a pitch to a player already pledged elsewhere, and the next steps in that evaluation will be worth tracking. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Is Suddenly Facing A Dangerous Spot Before Its Brutal Stretch
Floridas upcoming run is getting attention for all the wrong reasons, and the Week 6 pick against South Carolina only adds to the unease. The broader upset trends through Week 5 suggest underdogs have not been cashing in at the usual rate, especially in Group of 6 versus Power 4 games, but this matchup still stands out because of how the two teams have looked and what each side has coming next.
South Carolina has its own questions to sort through, but the Gamecocks are being viewed as the side better positioned to take advantage if Florida is even a little off. One wrinkle worth watching is Dylan Stewarts status, with his suspension situation still listed as TBA, leaving one more piece of the puzzle unresolved as the Gamecocks line up for a game that could say plenty about both teams. [Read more 🡒]