Shane Beamer relishes first victory at South Carolina: ‘It’s just awesome to have college football back’
By Keith Farner
Published:
South Carolina had just about everything go right in Shane Beamer’s first game as the head coach, as the Gamecocks secured a 46-0 victory over Eastern Illinois.
Zeb Noland, who got the start at QB for the injured Luke Doty, turned in a masterful performance and Zaquandre White filled in admirably for Kevin Harris as the offense moved smoothly.
As strong as the offense was, the defense may have been more impressive with 2 interceptions, it held EIU to 0-for-9 on third down, 78 yards passing and just 31 yards rushing.
Here’s a sampling of what Beamer told reporters after the game:
Shane Beamer: “What a night. First of all, it’s just awesome to have college football back.”
— Michael Lananna (@mlananna) September 5, 2021
Beamer: Kevin Harris was out with an illness tonight, and they expect Luke Doty to be full-speed by the end of the week.
— Michael Lananna (@mlananna) September 5, 2021
Beamer said he woke up at 6 a.m. this morning and went for a run like he does on most gamedays.
“It was a long day, but it was a long day preparing for what we needed to do tonight.”
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
Beamer said his kids texted him throughout the day to make sure his guys were still working hard and ready to go tonight.
You can see it in the smile on Beamer’s face how much tonight meant to him.
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
Beamer: “We’re going to enjoy the hell out of this win tonight and we’re going to let our players enjoy this.”
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
Beamer on first #Gamecocks gameday as head coach: Got up early so there was a lot of time to get excited. Stayed in the same hotel I slept in when I was an assistant. I was going to make sure I was going to do my job but also enjoy the heck out of it.
— SportsTalk Media Network (@sportstalksc) September 5, 2021
Beamer said he hasn’t even gotten a chance to check his phone for all the texts from former players, HS coaches in the state that wished him good luck tonight.
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
Shane Beamer talking with reporters now.
“The energy tonight was unbelievable.”
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
Beamer: “Some dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb penalties tonight.”
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) September 5, 2021
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
