Across his first three years at South Carolina, first-time head coach Shane Beamer only led the Gamecocks to a bowl twice and is coming off a 5-7 campaign in 2023. However, it’s clear that the program is starting to head in the right direction after South Carolina’s 28-7 win over Vanderbilt in Week 11 of the 2024 season.
Not only did the 21-point victory over Vandy make the Gamecock’s bowl eligible at 6-3 and climb the team into the AP Top 25 at No. 23, but it was also the seventh 21+ point SEC win of Beamer’s tenure. That’s significantly more than his predecessor and only one shy of the most successful head coach in program history.
21+ point wins vs SEC teams @ South Carolina:
— Gamecock Russ🤙🏻 (@RustyB25) November 12, 2024
Spurrier - 8
Muschamp - 3
Beamer - 7 pic.twitter.com/tQiRCMJUK6
Will Muschamp had 4+ years and managed just three such wins while Steve Spurrier needed 11 years to win eight games by that margin.
Beamer’s Gamecocks are 4-3 in SEC play this year with all four wins coming by at least three touchdowns: 31-6 over Kentucky, 35-9 over Oklahoma, 44-20 over Texas A&M, and now 28-7 over Vanderbilt. Across Spurrier’s back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2012 and 2013, South Carolina notched three total SEC wins by 21+.
While the margin of victory is somewhat arbitrary, it’s a promising sign nonetheless. South Carolina football is not known for dominating the SEC, but Beamer is now regularly dismantling SEC opponents, including Texas A&M, which was the No. 10 team in the country and undefeated in conference play.
South Carolina is capable of playing with the very best teams in the conference and bludgeoning the very worst. If a few close losses went the other way, by three to LSU and by two to Alabama, the Gamecocks would be in the thick of the race for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
It appears that last season was a blip on the radar and Beamer has the program headed in the right direction.