The South Carolina Gamecocks got a much-needed SEC win in Week 6 with a huge upset over No. 16 Florida on the road. The win marked the first conference victory for the Gamecocks since last season, and the first win for South Carolina in Gainesville since 2014.
A big storyline for the Gamecocks coming into the game was how poorly South Carolina had played in the third quarter. In the last three SEC contests, the Gamecocks had been outscored 31-0 by SEC teams. South Carolina went to the locker room with a 17-10 lead at halftime.
Against the Gators, South Carolina flipped its trend in the third quarter, instead holding Florida to just a field goal. The Gamecocks scored two more touchdowns in the quarter, outsourcing Florida 14-3.
After the game, head coach Shane Beamer told reporters that he made a key change to practice the week leading up to the game against Florida. He explained that previously, the Gamecocks would usually have a break in the middle of practice to simulate halftime. Partially it was due to the heat that South Carolina practiced in during the preseason.
Usually coming out of that break, the Gamecocks would work on something special teams related. Instead, Beamer changed the format of practice to a good on good period of offense vs. defense:
“This week, we said, ‘Look, fellas. Covering kicks and returning kicks ain’t our problem in the third quarter," Beamer said via Gamecock Central. "It’s playing offense and defense.’ So, this week, we changed it where, coming out of the break, we did offense, defense together, good versus good. That’s one tweak that we made."
Florida's only other possession of the third quarter resulted in a punt after just seven plays that went for two yards. In the fourth quarter, South Carolina's defense capitalized on the momentum, with an interception off Florida's Aaron Philo and a fumble recovered by Shawn Murphy.
"Those periods were good," Beamer continued via GC of South Carolina's practice leading up to Florida. "And it wasn’t any kind of mental phobia. It was just ‘We don’t play great in the third quarter, and it’s execution.’"
Earlier this season, Beamer went viral for saying his team had hell of a practice. Perhaps now that his team has translated those practices into big on-field wins, people can start to believe him when he says that.
Kudos to Beamer for recognizing a much-needed change at practice and making it show up on the field in a huge way. South Carolina will likely be wise to stick with the change throughout the season since it worked so well.
South Carolina gets a much-needed bye this week ahead of an Oct. 24 home game against a 5-1 Tennessee team.
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