What Shane Beamer said after South Carolina’s huge SEC road win over Kentucky

Here is what coach Shane Beamer said after South Carolina shellacked Kentucky 31-6 for the largest road win of his tenure:

What statement did USC’s defense make against UK?

To ESPN’s Molly McGrath:

“An unbelievable statement by out defense, but an unbelievable statement about our entire program,” Beamer said.

His defense had two interceptions and two forced fumbles in the victory on top of 74 tackles and five sacks.

His daughters Sutton, 16 and Olivia, 14, ran over to greet him. Beamer kissed each on the head with an audible “mwah,” before finishing his answer.

“There was a perception out there about our team this week, but it wasn’t reality. And we knew what kind of team we have. There were some lazy narratives out there this week about this team.

“We’ve got a bunch of tough, gritty young men. Starting with our quarterback. Offense, defense, special teams. Everybody did it today. And that’s a team win.

“We got 74 players up here,” Beamer continued, then looked into the camera, “but we’ve got 120 guys on our football team. There’s a bunch of guys in Columbia right now watching this on TV, and I want them to know that they’re a huge part of this. The scout team, everybody involved with our program made a statement about what Gamecock football’s about today.”

On the offense, LaNorris Sellers’ first SEC road win as starting QB

To ESPN’s Molly McGrath:

“We got better, and the exciting thing is, we can be so much better. What a performance by our defense. We gave them three with the turnover, but the offense made plays. We had a hell of a second half right there as well. LaNorris is gritty. He’s gonna continue to learn. We’re gonna continue to get better on offense, and that’s the exciting thing.

“This is a great team we just beat. And we expected this. Nothing against Kentucky, but there was great confidence coming in here today. Not to keep it close and hope things work out, but there’s great confidence on this football team, and we showed it today.”

If defense holds, offense keeps improving, what can USC accomplish this year?

To ESPN’s Molly McGrath:

“I think we’ve got all the ingredients. So many of my dad’s teams that he had at Virginia Tech back in the day (had) good defense, great special teams, offense will continue to get better as the year goes.

“But we came up here and we started, I think, three true freshmen on offense today, a redshirt freshman quarterback. We’ve got a veteran defense that I think people have forgotten about, going back to last year. We played pretty good defense down the stretch last year, and we started out this season with pretty good defense.

“It wasn’t great last week against Old Dominion, but we got better as a team this week, and we’ll continue to get better. We need to be a lot better next Saturday at high noon against LSU.”

Beamer looked into the camera once again and delivered a message to the fan base: ”And we need Williams-Brice freaking rocking next Saturday at 12 noon.”

Press conference opening statement

“First of all, best of luck to coach (Mark) Stoops and his program. I told him after the game, and it’s (the) truth, that we knew coming in here that we had to be really good to beat a team and a program like his. Immense respect for the way they do things, how well coached they are as well.

“Having said that, what a team win for our football program. Offense, defense, special teams. You talk about gritty, you talk about tough, you talk about competitive. We showed it all today.

“We said, ‘Coming on the road, you’ve gotta have great toughness.’ Check. ‘You’ve got to have great physicality.’ Check. ‘When adversity hits, you’ve got to have great composure.’ Check. And then ‘great togetherness.’ And we showed that as well.

“We talked about getting that ball into the fourth quarter and finding a way to win it. And we absolutely did.

“You know I love you guys,” Beamer said, directly addressing the media in attendance. “I think you’re fantastic at the jobs you do, but frankly there were some really false and lazy narratives out there this week.

“There was (a) perception coming out of the Old Dominion game, and I get it. It wasn’t great. Nobody thought we were gonna win four games. But, not just you guys, everybody out there. I get it.

“That’s why the line, not that I pay attention to gambling lines, but that’s why the line continued to get bigger this week, I think, for Kentucky as the week went. I apologize if I just completely violated all protocols, commissioner (Greg) Sankey.

“But there wasn’t a lot of belief in this program or in this team coming in here to be able to do what we just did against a really good team that has a veteran defense. I think 10 returning starters. Great players. High draft picks. Talented receivers.

“But I told our team on Tuesday that ‘There’s perception, and there’s reality.’ And the reality was we’ve got a good football team.

“The reality is that we played really good defense against Old Dominion last week. The reality is we started three true freshmen on offense last week and a redshirt freshman quarterback, and they would continue to get better. Reality is that we’re really good on special teams, and we’ve got a big-time punter. That’s what we showed today.

“And ultimately, the reality is we’ve got belief. The 74 young men that came up here, the coaches and staff, this isn’t some surprise. We truly expected to win this football game. Knew it was gonna take a lot. Knew it was gonna take all of us. All 74. And we certainly were able to get it done.

“What a win, and a lot of work to do. Nobody’s sitting here anointing us right now. There’s a lot to clean up, and we can play so much better. And that’s what I just told the team in there was well.

“We scored 31 points. Told the team on Tuesday that ‘Nobody in this game, the winning team has not scored more than 24 points, outside of COVID.’ The 2020 year. Since, I think, 2015 or (20)16. And we got 31. And all three phases contributed to it.

“Really proud of the guys in our program. So happy for the older guys in our program that have been around here for a while. A lot of these guys, a couple years ago when I came up here, I talked about that it wasn’t lost on me that this game up here in 2020 was the night that coach (Ray) Tanner called me. And we made small talk for two or three minutes. Finally said, ‘Are you ready to do this?’ And he offered me the job.

“Justin King sent me a text before the game with a picture of the spot that he was standing at in 2020 when he got the alert that I’d been named the head coach at South Carolina. And that was a great memory for me and for him.

“We came up here two years ago, and that was a huge win for our program that night. And then to be able to come up here in 2024, on national television, first SEC game. We’re 1-0. We’re atop the SEC standings.

“It’s a great statement win for our program right now. And a lot to build upon as well. We’ve got to be a lot better. We’ve got a big challenge next week with LSU.

“But just so happy for the guys in that locker room. I’m sure you guys can hear ‘em through the walls. We’re having a heck of a celebration, as we should. That’s a great win against a really good team. And our guys have worked really, really hard.”