South Carolina fans want to know: Will the good times keep rolling under Shane Beamer?

*Extremely Ed Helms voice* ... We are backkkkk.

No, we’re not cruising the Las Vegas strip searching for a missing friend a la “The Hangover,” but South Carolina football’s season begins in earnest Friday when the Gamecocks open fall camp.

USC has been a darling of the offseason and with good reason. Shane Beamer’s bunch shocked plenty of pundits — this writer included — with a 7-6 debut campaign capped by a 38-21 throttling of North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Throw in a bevy of transfers such as former Oklahoma signal-caller Spencer Rattler along with the bulk of last season’s roster returning, and there’s reason to be excited for South Carolina football for the first time in ... well, a while.

With that, let’s dive into some reader questions before camp begins:

How is the team’s mindset going into 2022 season? — Ryan G.

Pure bliss? Nirvana? All the above?

I kid, but South Carolina is flat out excited. Beamer and the rest of his staff have taken a business-like approach to preparing for the 2022 campaign, but it’s hard not to see the energy radiating off this program and team right now.

The Gamecocks projected like a three- or four-win team a season ago. Six wins over the previous two years combined along with a handful of recruiting misses by the old staff will do that. But Beamer deserves all the credit in the world for what his squad accomplished last fall.

That said, I and plenty of others still aren’t ready to peg South Carolina as an SEC East contender — or even a likely second-place finisher. Such is life in a division that includes Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida.

Jaylan Foster had one of the more interesting nuggets of the offseason when he explained in an interview with The State that USC struggled learning how to handle success over the course of 2021. Simply put, the Gamecocks just hadn’t won enough in the years prior to work through it.

That’ll have to change this fall.

To actually answer your question — I think South Carolina is cautiously optimistic. The schedule is tough. Trips to Arkansas and Kentucky aren’t what they once were. Matchups with Clemson, Texas A&M and Georgia won’t be easy sledding either.

But there are enough new pieces, especially offensively, to think the Gamecocks take a step forward in 2022 — even if it means a 7-5 season and looking better in the games they lose.

Am I to assume we’ll run 2 TE sets predominantly, or will Austin Stogner play on line and Jaheim Bell split wide or run H-back? — Steve J.

I’m genuinely fascinated by how South Carolina is going to utilize its tight ends in 2022.

The Gamecocks offense was less efficient than a Hummer on the freeway last fall. There’s myriad reasons for that, but lacking offensive playmakers is a big piece.

The offseason brought a talent infusion to Columbia, and tight ends coach Jody Wright is perhaps the biggest beneficiary after the Gamecocks quarterback room.

Returner Jaheim Bell is an absolute freak. That’s cliché, but there really aren’t too many words to describe what he can do with a ball in his hands at 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has said Bell will line up all over the formation. If I’m taking bets, I assume we’ll see him at receiver, tailback, fullback and tight end.

Hell, Jordan Burch threw a pass last year; maybe Bell will get a shot at quarterback, too.

Given that flexibility, we should see plenty of two tight end sets with transfers Austin Stogner (Oklahoma), Nate Adkins (East Tennessee State) and whoever else factors in at the position.

What’s y’all’s predictions? — Pat B.

I’ll have a fuller prediction for this season as we get through camp, but right now I think South Carolina is probably somewhere around a 7-5 team.

I know that doesn’t seem like much of a step up. Most message board pundits around Columbia would suggest that’s not a good enough year given what South Carolina has on its roster. But progress in college football isn’t linear.

I mentioned it briefly above, but the schedule is brutal. Arkansas should finish in the top half of the SEC West, and that’s a longgggg trip for the first road game of the season. Also, until South Carolina proves it can stop the run, expect Sam Pittman’s bunch to smash it down the Gamecocks’ throats in that one.

Assuming South Carolina wins the games in which it’s favored (Georgia State, South Carolina State, Charlotte, Vanderbilt, Missouri), Beamer’s bunch would need to go 2-1 or 3-0 in games at home against Tennessee and at Arkansas and Kentucky to get to seven or eight wins. It would need another victory against Texas A&M at Williams-Brice Stadium or at Florida to get into the nine-win range on top of that.

And no, I’m not forgetting about the Georgia and Clemson games — South Carolina isn’t winning those. Sorry. It’s not happening. Not this year, anyway.

The Gamecocks are going to be better in 2022. They upgraded in too many places not to be. It would take a lot to break right, though, for this team to get into the eight- or nine-win range some are projecting.

Then again, I picked South Carolina to lose its bowl game by three touchdowns.

Maybe don’t take my picks to Vegas.

▪ (Got questions you want answered about the team? Email Ben Portnoy at bportnoy@thestate.com and your question could appear in an upcoming mailbag Q&A.).

South Carolina 2022 football schedule

Sept. 3: vs. Georgia State, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus/ESPN+) Sept. 10: at Arkansas, noon (ESPN) Sept. 17: vs. Georgia, noon (ESPN) Sept. 24: vs. Charlotte Oct. 1: vs. South Carolina State Oct. 8: at Kentucky Oct. 22: vs. Texas A&M Oct. 29: vs. Missouri Nov. 5: at Vanderbilt Nov. 12: at Florida Nov. 19: vs. Tennessee Nov. 26: at Clemson