South Carolina’s latest win in Norman had a little bit of everything: a defense that bent late but had already built the cushion, an offense finding answers after losing a key back, and a quarterback who can look unstoppable and reckless in the same breath.
The Gamecocks rolled past Oklahoma 35-10 through three quarters before the Sooners tacked on 15 points in the fourth, making the final margin look a little less brutal than the game itself. By then, South Carolina had already done the damage. And after a September that went badly, the Gamecocks have now won three straight.
Shane Beamer wasn’t exactly trying to pour cold water on the moment, but he wasn’t interested in getting carried away either. He captured the mood with a Meek Mill line:
“Hold up, wait a minute … Y’all thought we were finished?”
That was the tone around a team that suddenly looks dangerous again, even if the early losses still hang over the bigger picture.
One of the biggest questions entering the game was how South Carolina would handle life without Matt Fuller. Beamer wasn’t exactly optimistic before kickoff, and Fuller had surgery Sunday morning, which didn’t exactly point toward a quick return.
The Gamecocks had to adjust on the fly, and they handled it well enough behind Jabree Coleman and Isaiah Augustave, who each helped grind out yards in their own way. Christian Clark also scored.
The loss of Fuller won’t disappear overnight. He started for a reason.
But South Carolina has depth there, and Jawarn Howell was out too. However the rotation gets sorted out, it’s now part of the offense’s job to keep it humming.
Then there was Nyck Harbor, whose season has been defined more by flashes than a full breakout. He didn’t start, and Beamer said afterward that Harbor had been dog-sick on Friday, throwing up food he’d eaten the week before. The staff gave him an emergency solo hotel room and told him not to show up for team meetings.
He showed up anyway, and he made plays.
Harbor caught one pass that hit his thigh pads, bounced into his chest, and was secured as he went to the ground with Trystan Haynes fighting him all the way. Later, he ran a clean route and hauled in a touchdown right before halftime.
“I think he's like our team, just responded the right way. And he works his butt off, and he may not always show up in the stat sheet,” Beamer said.
"Don't get me wrong. There were some things we were disappointed with last week with him in the Tennessee game, some plays that we'd like to have or he'd like to have back.
But he went right back to work, never flinched, didn't start, but showed up and made plays."
The biggest show, though, belonged to LaNorris Sellers.
Beamer said he didn’t blame Sellers for the first interception, the pick-six. The second one came on an overthrow to Mazeo Bennett.
But Sellers also uncorked the kind of throws that make people lean forward. He hit D.J.
Black in stride for an 84-yard touchdown, and later escaped pressure, moved a few steps, jumped to turn his body, and still delivered a touchdown pass to Bennett off one foot.
That’s the part that makes scouts drool. It’s also the part that leaves everyone wondering how often he can put all of it together.
He’s 240 pounds, and he’s got the size and arm strength to make defenses pay when he takes off or pushes the ball downfield. As Beamer’s team keeps rolling, Sellers is giving South Carolina the kind of ceiling that can change a season.
Oklahoma’s offense did most of its work late, piling up 241 of its 359 yards and 15 of its points in the fourth quarter. South Carolina’s defense was clearly wearing down, but the lead was already secure long before then.
Beamer acknowledged the finish wasn’t up to the standard, even if the scoreboard had long since settled the outcome. Brent Venables, meanwhile, had enough from the fourth quarter to show his superiors that his team kept fighting.
There were still some rough edges for South Carolina. Vicari Swain committed a costly cut-blocking penalty on a third-and-long situation, giving Oklahoma a first down that eventually turned into a field goal. But Swain also spent time in nickel coverage on Isaiah Sategna and held him to four catches for 13 yards.
Beamer said the move was tied in part to Damarcus Leach’s recent play and the matchup with No. 1.
And then there was the small reminder of how quickly a sideline moment can become part of the story. Beamer brought up a similar scene from last year, when South Carolina was beating Texas A&M at Kyle Field and he was doing a halftime interview before turning to the crowd and urging more noise from the Gamecocks fans.
This time, in Norman, the message was a little different. South Carolina has answers all over the field right now. The trick is keeping them coming.
In Other News...
South Carolina Suddenly Has A Huge Backfield Problem After Oklahoma
South Carolinas backfield took a major hit against Oklahoma when Matt Fuller went down in the first quarter with an ankle injury, a sequence that ended with a broken bone in his foot and a likely season-ending surgery. Fuller had been one of the Gamecocks most productive runners, piling up 513 rushing yards and five touchdowns before the injury, and his absence immediately changed the feel of the offense.
Jabree Coleman, Christian Clark and Isaiah Augustave were the backs asked to absorb the workload after Fuller exited, and the staff now has to sort out how to replace both production and reliability moving forward. For a team trying to keep its ground game steady, losing a back who had become such a central piece of the rotation creates a problem that is hard to patch quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Shane Beamer Was Still Angry During South Carolinas Rout Of Oklahoma
South Carolina had already put together one of its sharpest offensive halves of the season against Oklahoma, piling up 322 yards and taking a 28-10 lead into the break, but Shane Beamer still found plenty to correct. Even with the Gamecocks controlling the game midway through the third quarter, the head coach was dissatisfied at halftime, pointing to the 10 points his team had handed away through mistakes while still acknowledging how well the offense handled Oklahomas defense.
Beamers reaction fit the tone of a coach who wants more than a comfortable margin, especially in a game that had already tilted so heavily in South Carolinas favor. The scoring cushion was there, the production was there, and the matchup was unfolding the way the Gamecocks wanted, but the frustration served as a reminder that Beamer was looking at the bigger picture rather than just the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolinas Late-Season Surge Just Got Hard To Ignore
South Carolinas late-season push picked up another jolt in Norman, where the Gamecocks handled Oklahoma 42-25 behind a big day from LaNorris Sellers. The quarterback threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns while adding two more scores on the ground, giving South Carolina the kind of balanced punch that can travel well this time of year even after a pair of interceptions and the early loss of top running back Matt Fuller.
What made the result stand out was how the Gamecocks absorbed the mistakes and still kept control. Oklahoma won the turnover battle, but South Carolinas defense made the Sooners work for everything and the offense kept finding answers, leaving the home team unable to climb back into the game. For a program trying to build momentum down the stretch, this was the sort of road win that gets noticed. [Read more 🡒]