![]() WR Corey Rucker, who had 9 TDs last year at Arkansas State, still hasn’t gotten on the field because of injury. ![]() Beal-Smith wasn’t healthy late in fall camp and doesn’t have a carry. This offense is still learning to play together, still trying to find consistency with an offensive line that struggles to set a tone. The new offense is a week removed from another big game last week at Arkansas, when too many mistakes - too many dropped passes and missed opportunities, including 2 deep balls by Ahmarean Brown - led to an ugly loss. “If we’re going to be what we want to be, we have to show up in the big games,” Rattler told me earlier this summer. In less than 6 weeks since the end of the 2021 season, Beamer and his staff reshaped the offense and went from cobbling together first downs and points in 2021, to big dreams of throwing the ball vertically and stressing defenses. Soon after that in early January, Antwane “Juice” Wells - the No.1 receiver in FCS at James Madison - committed to South Carolina, and 2 days after that, Wake Forest tailback Christian Beal-Smith joined. The first big steps to completely changing the face of the offense were complete. By the second week of December, both had committed to play for the Gamecocks. ![]() In early December, Beamer sold Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner on playing in Columbia, not knowing that Stogner would soon convince former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler to visit South Carolina. Look, if you’re going to get better, if you’re going to drastically change what you do and who you do it with, what better bar to reach than the one in your division with “100 5-star players” on defense? So Beamer and his staff patchworked a 7-win season in 2021 - still an unreal thought considering they used 3 quarterbacks who had no business playing in the SEC - and immediately got to work on 2022 with an eye on this game. Translation: We have to get better talent. “There wasn’t some magical scheme they came out with. “They’ve got like 100 5-star football players on their defense,” Beamer said of the Georgia defense.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |