Why Shane Beamer supports Gamecocks playing in a bowl: ‘That would be great’
South Carolina football’s 2020 season ended with a disappointing 2-8 record, but the Gamecocks’ new coach likes the idea of the team playing in the bowl game.
In his introductory news conference Monday, Shane Beamer left the decision of whether USC would accept a bowl invitation up to athletic director Ray Tanner. But he did point out that such a game would come with some benefits.
“I know for me, if South Carolina is playing in a bowl game, that would be a great resource, great opportunity for me to be able to come over without coaching the bowl game, but at least have a chance to get around here and watch our guys practice and see what we’re about on the field,” Beamer said.
“Bowl games are always good because, in a lot of ways, it’s an extra spring practice. You get a chance to get out there and develop young guys and continue to move this program forward. So if we’re able to do that, from my standpoint, I think that would be great.”
Tanner, speaking later, said he had spoken with the SEC league office and that there was no certain answer yet on if the Gamecocks would even be invited to play in a bowl. In a normal year, they would be far short of bowl eligibility, but college football has waived those requirements this year because of the impacts of COVID-19.
“I talked to the team (Sunday) prior to introducing coach Beamer to those guys, and we talked about some different scenarios and some opportunities. But there aren’t any definitives at this point either way,” Tanner said.
The SEC has nine bowl tie-ins, minus a canceled Las Vegas Bowl, plus however many spots it gets in the New Year’s Six bowl games. Chances are good that at least three teams — Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M — make NY6 games, maybe four if Georgia can bull its way in.
At 2-8, the Gamecocks are currently second-to-last out of 14 SEC teams. Should Tennessee and Mississippi State lose out, they would tie USC’s record. And of course, it’s no guarantee that every team ahead of South Carolina would accept a bowl invite, what with coaching changes, injuries or COVID-19 impacts.
From South Carolina’s own perspective, injuries, opt-outs and COVID-19 protocols reduced the team to fewer than 50 scholarship players for its regular-season finale against Kentucky. But Tanner said Monday that the team’s most recent slate of testing had gone well. And he also pointed out that a bowl game could be a good way to jump-start Beamer’s tenure.
“One of my comments yesterday to the players (was), should we end up in a bowl game in a few weeks, let’s get this thing started the right way. Let’s go win. Let’s call this our next season. You know, who knows the date exactly of when it will be, but that’s the way we feel about it.”
The latest bowl projections from two ESPN experts have the Gamecocks slated to play in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 26, against either Pitt or Boston College. And at least one other projection had USC playing Virginia Tech — the school where Beamer played and coached under his father, the legendary Frank Beamer.
“I hadn’t heard that. That would be pretty amazing,” Beamer said.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Why Shane Beamer supports Gamecocks playing in a bowl: ‘That would be great’."
