South Carolina showed gritty toughness playing in record heat against Kent State

Saturday afternoon's game between Kent State and South Carolina was a scorcher both weather-wise and for the Gamecocks on offense. The Gamecocks rolled to a 57-0 victory, in what was a near-perfect debut for the new Kendal Briles offense in Columbia.

South Carolina's offense was red-hot, finishing with 643 total yards of offense. But perhaps even hotter were the temperatures inside the stadium. Saturday's game set a record for the hottest game ever played inside Williams-Brice Stadium. It was 98 degrees, but the heat index reached well over 100. As a result, the fourth quarter was shortened to just 10 minutes so both teams could get done a bit earlier. By the end of the third, the score was 43-0 in favor of the Gamecocks. 

Impressively, the Gamecocks had zero cramping issues during the game. After the game at his postgame presser, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer credited his training staff, including South Carolina's director of football performance nutrition Yimy Rodriguez, strength coach Luke Day and head trainer Jon Melia. He also added that it shows just how tough this Gamecock team truly is: 

“No heat issues at all," Beamer said via Gamecock Central. "And again, like I said a minute ago, credit to Yimy Rodriguez and Luke Day and Jon Melia — our new trainer, his first game as a Gamecock — to have those guys to not have any heat issues. I mean, no crampers, no nothing. It’s remarkable and a testament to just the… I got asked on the radio show Thursday night about a word, and I just used the word to describe this team: 'rugged.' That’s just who they are, and they showed that today."

In a celebratory locker room postgame, Coach Beamer made his appreciation to Rodriguez known, handing him the game ball: 

Beamer also thanked the fans that made the hot trip out to see South Carolina fans play. He also shouted out the EMS staffers who quickly assisted any fans inside the stadium who had trouble dealing with the record heat:

South Carolina shows off trickery on brilliant 2-point converstion vs. Golden Flashes

In speaking with reporters, South Carolina players Donavan Murph and Judge Collier were asked about what it was like to play in the conditions. Collier said once they started playing as opposed to just standing in it, it wasn't too bad. Murph added that he and his teammates were pretty used to playing in the conditions since the Gamecocks practice in them already: 

The good news for South Carolina fans is that next week's home game against Towson will hopefully be a bit cooler, since kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. , roughly 40 minutes before sunset in Columbia.

South Carolina players, of course, will play their opponents in any kind of weather.  

5 things we learned from South Carolina's 57-0 blowout win over Kent State

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow