Shane Beamer shares displeasure over officiating, says he’s been in contact with SEC

Shane Beamer is looking for some answers from the SEC after a number of questionable calls went against South Carolina in the Gamecocks’ 36-33 loss to LSU on Saturday.

The fourth-year head coach finished up his media duties Saturday night and called SEC coordinator of football officials John McDaid, looking for some clarification on a number of penalties that went against USC. He also added that athletic director Ray Tanner has “had some conversations with the league office as well.”

“I don’t typically send in a lot of plays (to the SEC office),” Beamer said. “A lot of the plays I send in are plays I either have a question about like, ‘What did you see?’ or ‘Explain this rule to me better.’

“I don’t think we’ve sent in any over the last two weeks. We have sent in quite a few today.”

That news is not shocking after the flag fest on Saturday. Against LSU, the Gamecocks were penalized 13 times for 123 yards, including a trio of controversial calls that severely cost South Carolina.

The Gamecocks saw a pair of pick-6 touchdown scores wiped off the board for different penalties on edge rusher Kyle Kennard.

The first: In the first quarter, O’Donnell Fortune intercepted LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier and Kennard grabbed the back of Nussmeier’s jersey and yanked him down. He was flagged for a horse-collar tackle and LSU kept the ball.

“(The) coaches up top told me that they thought he just grabbed a shoulder pad and pulled him down,” Beamer said Saturday night.

The second: In the fourth quarter, Nick Emmanwori seemingly sealed the game with a 100-yard pick-6 but, on the return, Kennard forcefully shoved Nussmeier to the turf and he was called for unnecessary roughness. The Gamecocks received possession, but lost the points.

“Any time there’s an interception, we tell our guys, ‘Find the quarterback, and make sure we get him blocked,’ ” Beamer said. “And it wasn’t vicious by any stretch of the imagination.”

The other bizarre flag was called against the South Carolina offense — and it was such an odd call that Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, calling the game on ABC, were outraged.

Backup quarterback Robby Ashford threw up a jump ball that receiver Dalevon Campbell miraculously came down with. It was going to be a gain of down the sideline for a gain of 43 yards until the referees called offensive pass interference on Mazeo Bennett, who was nowhere near Campebell or the ball.

Said Fowler on the broadcast: “Man if they called that on Bennett — a little bump in the secondary — that does not typically constitute pass interference.”

Most of the contention from Saturday night revolves around those three plays, but Beamer also mentioned he wanted to receive clarification on the two instances South Carolina was called for ineligible man downfield — a call that has already plagued USC this year.

The out-of-nowhere gripe that Beamer expressed on Sunday night, though, was over the refs not calling taunting on LSU following South Carolina’s last-second missed kick.

“For that crew to throw 22 flags and on the last play of the game,” Beamer said, “I think there’s two very clear instances of taunting that happened after the kick.”

Even if the SEC truly digs into each and every inquiry South Carolina submits, the best the Gamecocks will get is an answer. Perhaps an apology.

But nothing will change the outcome of Saturday. Beamer knows that. And he wants his team to know that, which he admitted is a tough thing to convey.

On one hand, supportive fans were telling the Gamecocks that Saturday’s game was “stolen” from them.

“We’re not gonna seek comfort telling ourselves that,” Beamer said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t do enough to win the game.”

Beamer continued: “Having said that, when you watch the tape with the players today, they’re not blind.”