It's no secret that South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer enters the 2026 college football season. In fact, the Gamecocks; sixth-year head coach has fully admitted that's where he sits entering the upcoming season.Â
But there is room for optimism in Columbia, thanks to the personnel changes Coach Beamer has made both within his coaching staff and guys landed from the transfer portal. On Tuesday at SEC Media Days, the Gamecocks' sixth-year head coach pointed out one big lesson that his team learned in 2025 that will carry over to the upcoming season.Â
That lesson? Winning the fourth quarter of games. As Beamer pointed out at the podium, South Carolina suffered three losses last season in games where the Gamecocks were leading entering the fourth quarter. Those games were against Missouri, Alabama, and Texas A&M. The A&M game was the most notable, as South Carolina led 30-3 at halftime.Â
Coach Beamer said winning games in the fourth quarter has been a critical point of emphasis for the 2026 season:Â
"For me, I look at it, 'why did we not play better in the fourth quarter?'" Beamer said on Tuesday. "Because we, in previous years, we won a lot of close games in the fourth quarter in 2024. So I look at it, what happened in '25 that we didn't play better in the fourth quarter? That's obviously the case study because of the lead that we had and how we finished.
"We'll really dive into that game specifically more. We do a summer scouting report on every opponent, so we've already done our summer scouting report on A&M, and you look at that. Then when we get to that game later in the season, certainly we'll really dive into that more strategically.
"But immediately after that game, yeah, you look at, you know, what happened?"Â
By far the most painful game from last season for the Gamecocks came against Texas A&M. Beamer even joked about not even wanting to look back at the game.
South Carolina's Shane Beamer asked to talk about Texas A&M game last year: "Can we not?"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2026
Gamecocks led 30-3 at half & lost 31-30
In mid-November, the Gamecocks went on the road to College Station to take on the undefeated Aggies, who were ranked No. 3 in the country. The Gamecocks shocked the Aggies in the first half, and jumped out to a shocking 27-point lead at halftime. In the third quarter, South Carolina's defense gave up 21 unanswered points, but the Gamecocks still led 30-24 entering the fourth.Â
Even returning star quarterback LaNorris Sellers addressed what went wrong at the end of that game, and how winning the fourth quarter, has been a point of emphasis this offseason.
"I think we just kind of stalled," Sellers said of the Gamecocks' second half. "I think we just need to keep attacking more or less. I won't say we took the foot off the gas, but we just need to finish situations. There was a lot of games last year that we didn't finish in the fourth quarter. That was one of them, so we can pick that up for this year."
Against the Missouri, South Carolina led 20-18 before giving up 11 points to a touchdown with a successful field goal and a 40-yard field goal. Versus the Tide, 15-14 entering the fourth quarter, and even took a 22-14 with 10 minutes left in the fourth. But Alabama scored two touchdowns inside the game's last 2:16, helped by a LaNorris Sellers fumble recovery, to give the Tide a 29-22 victory.
TAMU running back EJ Smith scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Aggies with 10:47 left, and the score of 31-30 held until the end. The Gamecocks' last offensive possessions of the second half included three punts and two turnovers on downs on a pair of failed fourth-down conversions.
With a 2026 schedule that includes huge SEC games against Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia, South Carolina can't afford fourth-quarter collapses in those. Not if Beamer Ball is to continue in Columbia.
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