Shane Beamer, South Carolina get their response from SEC over officiating in LSU game

Shane Beamer exhausted his only option on Saturday night.

South Carolina had just lost a heartbreaker to LSU — once up 17, the Gamecocks gave up the game-winning touchdown with just over a minute to play — and much of the game’s story centered on officiating.

There was a phantom offensive pass interference flag against wide receiver Mazeo Bennett. A pair of South Carolina pick-6s were called back because of questionable flags.

And, well, Beamer wanted answers.

Beamer noted during his teleconference on Sunday that the Gamecocks sent “quite” a few plays to the SEC office for review and clarification after not sending any in the first two weeks of the season.

Late Monday night, the Gamecocks received responses from the league office — which is SEC Coordinator of Officials John McDaid narrating over the plays with the reasoning for the flags, or lack thereof.

“There were some, certainly, that maybe I didn’t like what he said but I get it,” Beamer said Tuesday as his weekly press conference. “There were some that I was absolutely on board with his response. Then there were a couple that, frankly, we can agree to disagree on.”

In the end, though, it solves nothing. The game is not going to be replayed. The SEC isn’t changing the score. The season is just going to continue.

In the past, Beamer noted, he’s felt no need to send in questionable plays because, as he put it, “What’s the point?” Perhaps a clearer head? Maybe.

But when talking with his team these last few days, Beamer has tried to shift the narrative away from the officiating. Heck, the Gamecocks were up 17 points. They jumped offsides on a fourth down. They had two false starts in the final five minutes. That’s not on the refs.

“It’s just like our told our team: Officiating didn’t decide the game,” Beamer said. “Were there some impactful plays? Absolutely. Absolutely. And more in one game than I can remember. But at the same time, if we just do what we’re supposed to do and not even put it in officials’ hands, it’s a whole different story.”

That was a common theme from the Gamecocks players.

True freshman wide receiver Bennett — who was called for the offensive pass interference — still isn’t quite sure what he did to cause the flag. And, yet, the answer doesn’t matter.

“It’s a call,” Bennett said. “We have to deal with it and live to fight another day.”

Edge rusher Kyle Kennard was hoping to avoid the subject of officiating altogether by Tuesday. No one was bit more by penalties than Kennard on Saturday, getting called twice for offsides in the fourth quarter as well as horse-collar and unnecessary roughness flags that both negated pick-6s.

“We’ve got like a 24-hour rule,” Kennard said. “So after Sunday, we’re moving on to Akron.”

“Well,” Kennard added, “trying to.”