South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is plenty familiar with the University of Tennessee’s athletics department.
The 46-year-old head coach served as a graduate assistant at Tennessee under then-head coach Phillip Fulmer from 2001 to 2003 as only his second job in the coaching world.
So while the current Gamecocks head coach knows something about Tennessee in the past, Beamer also did his homework on Tennessee’s current team. During a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Columbia, Beamer gave a rundown of Tennessee’s team from his vantage point.
Before that, though, Beamer took a look at Tennessee’s first third of the season from a broad standpoint.
“Essentially they’ve had one bad half of football and that was against Florida a couple of weeks ago but other than that they’ve really been operating at a high level,” Beamer said on Tuesday.
Beamer on Tennessee’s Offensive Pieces
On Quarterback Joe Milton III…
“Offensively, the quarterback is tremendous. Can make every single throw on the field. Tucked the first play of the game on Saturday and ran for about 80 yards as the quarterback on a run – so he can certainly run.”
On Offensive Line…
“Offensive line, lot of those guys return, they brought in two guys from the transfer portal that are starting for them and are really good players.”
- Note: LT John Campbell Jr. and LG Andrej Karic are the two aforementioned transfer starters on the line.
On Pass Catchers…
“Wide receiver group is deep. They’ve added to the tight end core – starter returns, brought a transfer in that’s a really talented young man as well.”
On Running Back Room…
“Running backs, they’re deep. They’ve got three running backs that can all go. They’ve all got great vision, speed, burst, quickness. That’ll be a challenge for us without a doubt. They are the leading rushing offense in the SEC. So, last week against Mississippi State, we faced the No. 1 rushing offense in the country. This week we get to do it again. They ran for 303 yards against Texas-San Antonio Saturday and this isn’t like they popped some runs and run their yardage up. They’re handing the ball off 30-plus times a game. So we’ve got a big challenge on our hands to stop the run this week as well.”
- Note: The Gamecocks held Mississippi State to just 32 yards on 23 total carries in their game on Saturday. The Bulldogs found offense through the air, though, with quarterback Will Rogers going 30-of-48 for 487 passing yards.
- Note: Tennessee currently has the top-ranked rushing offense (918 yards) in the SEC while South Carolina has the last-place rushing offense (303 yards).
More from RTI: Shane Beamer Rules Star South Carolina Receiver Out Against Tennessee
Beamer on Tennessee’s Defensive Pieces
On Tennessee’s Front Seven…
“Defensively, their defensive line is very, very active. Same thing with the linebacker crew. They can rush the passer, they lead the conference in sacks. So it’ll be a big challenge for our offense, not allowing them to be as disruptive as they have been all season as well. Athletic linebackers.”
On Tennessee’s Secondary…
“And then a veteran group of defensive backs on the back end at corner and safety.”
On Tennessee’s Special Teams Unit…
“Special teams, they’re really, really good. Punt returner averages 21 yards per return. Not a long of 21, he averages 21 yards per return this season. He can make people look silly really, really quick. So we’ve got to do a great job covering punts this week when we punt. They lost their specialist but they brought in a transfer kicker that’s tremendous and then they’ve got a punter that actually punt with both legs. So that’ll be a challenge for our punt-pressure team when he punts. He can kick with his right leg or he can kick with his left leg. And he also does it rugby style, rolling, so that’ll be a big challenge for our guys. They play really, really hard on special teams. We pride ourselves on being disruptive and so do they. Their effort is tremendous on special teams. They block kicks, they return kicks, they block field goals, they are well coached, they know what they’re doing.”
- Note: Tennessee PR Dee Williams is third in the SEC in average yards per punt return at 21.17 yards on average.
- Note: Tennessee P Jackson Ross is currently 11th in the SEC in gross yards per punt but has the added variable of kicking with either foot. Seven of Ross’s 18 punts have placed the opposing team inside the 20-yard line while nine have been caught as a fair catch with no return.
*Quotes via South Carolina Football official press conference video
