Only South Carolina can change its narrative for 2024. The time for this is running out

Shane Beamer wants respect.

Beamer has something to complain about – not about his football team, but about how his football team is perceived. In his postgame news conference Saturday, just minutes after the Gamecocks lost 27-25 to No. 7 Alabama, he insisted his team wasn’t doing cartwheels in the locker room at halftime just because it was related to the tide .

He also knew the Crimson Tide were the 21-point favorite. That the majority of the public viewed the Gamecocks’ chances of winning as slim to non-existent.

Yes, the Gamecocks suffered a huge loss to Ole Miss, Beamer argued, but how could people not overlook that? Don’t you see everything good? Not somehow transport him to the locker room Sunday through Friday, assess each player’s psyche, understand what’s going on in offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains’ head, determine how many of LaNorris Sellers’ fumbles were actually his fault, and then make some actual predictions?

“For me coming from Kentucky, it’s amazing how we played, the perception of us was really, really high,” Beamer said Saturday. “And then last Saturday we had a shitty performance and everyone was saying we weren’t worth shit. And that’s not the case.”

His displeasure with these wishy-washy opinions is an indictment of an inconsistent team.

A team (3-3 overall) that needed a fourth-quarter turnover to beat Old Dominion…then looked like the 1985 Bears, reborn with a win over Kentucky.

A team that beat the Wildcats…then called 13 penalties and blew a 17-point lead at home against LSU.

A team that waxed Akron and had a full week to prepare and get healthy… then didn’t score a touchdown and got thrashed by Ole Miss.

A group that looked completely helpless against the Rebels…then went toe-to-toe with No. 7 Alabama, outscored the Crimson Tide and narrowly missed a field goal to pull off a miracle.

How is anyone supposed to know what to expect in South Carolina? Who the hell would have thought that South Carolina – a week after failing to throw a 25-yard pass – would move on? a 36-yard score on fourth-and-9? Or that somehow wide receiver Nyck Harbor, who barely played this season, would score a last-minute touchdown? Or that South Carolina was able to complete the longest drive of the Beamer era?

As outsiders, fans and media are condemned to be outsiders. We judge this team on Saturdays – and that was more changeable than the weather in the Palmetto State. When the Gamecocks play well, fans rally and hope grows. Then – a dud. You lose, mistakes pile up, expectations fall. This cycle is the only consistent thing about this football team.

So what should we make of Beamer, who has this team on track for a bowl game but hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 2022? Whose team led in the second half against LSU and Alabama and couldn’t beat either?

What should we make of Sellers, who threw for more yards on Saturday (238) than any other game this season but also turned the ball over three times, including a fourth-quarter fumble that led to Alabama’s go-ahead touchdown?

What should we make of this defense? Who gave up more than 400 yards to Ole Miss last week but kept Alabama at bay and attacked QB Jalen Milroe like the Bulls in Pamplona?

And most importantly, with six games remaining on the regular season schedule, what should we think of South Carolina going forward?

To fully accept the trend of the season, remember that after a solid performance against Alabama, a stinker is coming next week in Oklahoma. Offensive fights. Defensive mistakes. Everything we didn’t see in Tuscaloosa.

But the Gamecocks looked pretty damn good on Saturday. There were moments South Carolina’s defense had Milroe in a blender, with blades slicing and dicing the Heisman hopeful. There were moments in which the offense not only looked confident, but – dare I say it – looked explosive. The boys broke tackles. Sellers broadcast it. There were shifts and motions and third-down conversions.

Of course, we’ll once again be lulled into the trend and believe that the Gamecocks could be for real. And maybe they are – but they haven’t done anything to gain trust. That only comes with time, after winning over and over again – playing really well… and then doing the same thing the following week.

South Carolina is once again burdened with expectations. What now?

South Carolina 2024 football schedule