South Carolina responds to ‘doom and gloom’ with deliberate offensive effort vs Vandy

Shane Beamer slipped into the crowded visiting media room beneath FirstBank Stadium. His parents, Frank and Cheryl, stood closely behind, stopping at the door.

Their son coaxed them into the room crammed with reporters and plastic folding chairs.

“Come on in, mom,” Shane said. “We’re all friends here.”

Beamer had few, if any, “friends” in the press conference room at Williams-Brice Stadium a week ago following a dismal loss to Missouri. He was queried on offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s future. He was interrogated on tight end Jaheim Bell’s usage — or lack thereof.

The response to last week’s ineptitude? An emphatic and direct effort in a wonky 38-27 win over Vanderbilt.

“I’d be willing to bet anything when the vocal minority of our fan base saw that Marshawn (Lloyd) wasn’t playing tonight (due to injury), I’m sure it was doom and gloom and all that,” Beamer said. “We’ve got to get past that as a fan base, man. Find some joy. It was ugly last week, but we’ve got some great kids that are fighting their butts off.”

Satterfield, for all the qualms with his play-calling this year, mixed and matched the right offensive tunes Saturday night in Music City. The Gamecocks got funky formationally. Wishbone? Sure. A trips package with Antwane “Juice” Wells, Nate Adkins and Dakereon Joyner in a bunch and Bell in the backfield? Why not.

The creativity worked to a T.

South Carolina finished the night with 492 yards of total offense — the second-most yardage the Gamecocks have recorded against a Power Five opponent under Beamer.

“I felt like the gameplan, how we prepared this week was great,” quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “All these plays were things that all of us were good at. Going into the game, we wanted to get done what we wanted to get done. Guys ran great routes and got open, and I just threw the ball to them.”

Bell and Rattler were the biggest beneficiaries of South Carolina’s suddenly competent offensive attack.

With Lloyd shelved due to a thigh contusion, Beamer and his staff moved Bell to running back this week. It wasn’t completely foreign. Bell had lined up in the backfield in high school, but it was a change.

He took the opportunity and, quite literally, ran with it. He bounced and bobbed his way to 56 yards on 16 carries. He added another three receptions for 27 yards. Bell didn’t hit the “big” play, but he wore down a Vanderbilt defense that has been noticeably improved from years past.

“We weren’t going to come out of here saying, ‘Jaheim Bell didn’t touch the ball,’ ” Beamer said. “We weren’t gonna come out of here saying, ‘We didn’t give our playmakers an opportunity to make plays.’ ”

Rattler, to his credit, looked the part of the five-star signal-caller he was billed as coming out of high school. The Arizona native finished the night 16 of 23 for 186 yards and three touchdowns — the first time he’s tossed that many scores since the 2020 Orange Bowl against Florida.

The numbers, though they weren’t gaudy, were effective.

Take the dime he tossed to receiver Josh Vann in the back right corner of the end zone with just 1:22 remaining in the first half as proof of concept. Rattler went through his progressions, felt pressure, stepped up in the pocket and flipped a 19-yard touch pass over two defenders and into Vann’s outstretched hands.

That’s the throw that has NFL scouts drooling over his next-level potential.

Beamer noted postgame that Saturday was the best night Rattler has had since arriving at South Carolina. Vann concurred. As did Rattler.

“Spence, he played with a lot of confidence tonight to be able to sit in that pocket and let it rip,” Vann said. “... I feel like he’s learning and he’s maturing and growing week by week being able to sit in that pocket and make the throws that he did tonight. I can agree — I will say it was one of his best games tonight leading the offense and making the throws that he did.”

That South Carolina responded resoundingly from last week’s setback perhaps shouldn’t be a shock from a team that, under Beamer, has shown an ability to bounce back. It’s lost back-to-back games just twice in his almost two years on the job.

Just look at last year’s clunker of a 30-0 loss to Clemson. South Carolina followed that dismal effort that had fans calling for Satterfield’s job with an evisceration of North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Saturday night wasn’t pretty. It cost viewers a few brain cells and certainly necessitated a couple cold ones — or something stronger — to get through. But, in the end, South Carolina came out with a win that has it bowl-eligible for the second time in as many years under Beamer.

That vocal minority of doubters? They can step away from their keyboards for the time being.