LSU football meets South Carolina in Week 7 as both teams fight to keep their playoff hopes alive. LSU enters at 4-1 and 1-1 in conference play. South Carolina is 3-2 with a 1-2 record in conference.
It’s essentially a must-win for both squads. If South Carolina loses, the Gamecocks’ playoff hopes are officially crushed. If LSU falls, the Tigers probably have to win out, which is unlikely given LSU’s schedule, especially if they aren’t good enough to win this game.
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LSU and South Carolina met in 2024 with the Tigers winning 36-33 in Columbia. There were some questionable calls by the refs affecting both sides and South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers left with an injury.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer met with the media ahead of this week’s game. Here’s what Beamer had to say on a variety of topics leading into the LSU game.
Beamer on dealing with the Tiger Stadium noise
“Yeah, it starts in practice. We’re doing some crowd noise things in practice, which we always do when we go on the road. And did it when we went to Missouri and did it today. And we’ll do it tomorrow and Thursday in practice, just trying to simulate crowd noise. But you can’t simulate 100 plus thousand probably heavily intoxicated Louisianans down there, which is going to be awesome. I mean, that’s why you want to coach in those environments.”
“You can control the crowd with how you play. And that’s what we need to focus on is playing winning football offensively, defensively in special teams and being able to minimize the impact of that crowd. But this isn’t going into some 40,000 seat stadium. This is one of the great venues in all the college football. So we know it’s going to be loud and got to prepare that way during practice and then play well on Saturday night.”
On developing a balanced offense
“We’re not running the ball consistently enough right now. And we haven’t been as effective running the ball as we need to be. We’ve done what we needed to do to win three games. But we’ve got to be able to run it more consistently than what we have. And we’ve got to be able to throw it even more consistently than what we have. But I would say that with a lot of areas defensively that we got to be better, a lot of areas on special teams that we have to be better. But certainly we’ve got to be more consistent offensively, staying on the field, sustaining drives, and that’s running and throwing.”
On LSU’s defense and Harold Perkins
“A ton of respect for Blake Baker, their defensive coordinator. He does an awesome job. He did when he was at Miami and Missouri. We saw plenty of film when we played against Missouri my first couple of years and now at LSU.”
“Perkins is a great player. And they do do a great job with him. Most teams you play, they have a nickel or a Sam linebacker. Meaning — if you’re in 11 personnel, tight end, three receivers — are probaby gonna play with five DBs. You’re SAM linebacker is going to come off the field and [the defense] is going to play nickel, which is what we do with Jalen Kilgore.”
Beamer went on to discuss how teams defend 12 personnel (formations with two tight ends), subbing an extra linebacker on the field to deal with a heavier set.
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“They (LSU) don’t have to do that because Perkins is one of the rare guys that’s a SAM and a nickel, and he can match up against tight ends and stay on the field in base defense,” Beamer said.
On facing Garrett Nussmeier
“I’ve got a ton of respect for Garrett, coach’s son, grew up around the game. He’s a competitor, he’s a really good athlete, he’s tough, he sits in the pocket, he can make plays outside the pocket. He’s made some throws this year that are wow throws that you’re like, man, there’s very few people in the country that can make that throw. The one thing I’ve seen, I mean, they’ve had some injuries on the offensive line. They lost some really good offensive linemen.”
“[Nussmeier] hasn’t been able to sit in the pocket maybe as much at times as he would like, but for all the, and from what I read, he hasn’t been 100% healthy. I know they said they rested him some last week with an injury that he’s had. But I see him gutting it out, making plays, and being the great quarterback that he is.”
Beamer on South Carolina’s defensive tackles
“Yeah, I feel like they’ve done a nice job. Really proud of Nick Barrett and the leader he’s become and the plays that he’s making on the field. He’s really having a good year,” Beamer said.
The question was about this group being a concern entering the year, but Beamer says the defensive tackle group is solid and is excited about the potential in this room as they move into the second-half of the season.
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On South Carolina’s wide receivers
“I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of who that group is. But again, I mean, we’re constantly competing and developing, and we’re not even halfway through the regular season at this point. So we’ve got a pretty solid idea of who those top guys are. And when I say top, I mean top six, seven, eight that we feel like we can play in football games and win games with. But also, there’s guys that aren’t in that six, seven, eight that I see in practice continue to make plays and continue to get better, too. So yes, where we are right now, I’ve got a good idea and feel good about it.”
LSU will face South Carolina on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6:45 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: What Shane Beamer said about facing LSU football in Week 7
