In head coach Shane Beamer’s fourth season at the helm for South Carolina, his team turned in a strong season with a 9-4 overall record. One reason the Gamecocks were as successful as they were in 2024 was their performance in games away from Williams-Brice Stadium.
This season, South Carolina recorded a 4-1 record in true away games with victories over Kentucky, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Clemson. The wins over the Commodores and Tigers were top 25 victories. The only loss on the road for South Carolina in 2024 came in a 27-25 heartbreaker to Alabama.
In an interview on ‘Inside The Gamecocks – The Morning Show’ on Monday with Jamie Bradford, Beamer mentioned one reason for the Gamecocks’ success away from Williams-Brice in 2024 was having a veteran squad that thrived playing on the road.
“You talk about the guys that were leaders on this year’s team. Tonka (Hemingway), Boogie (Huntley), Debo (Williams) and guys like that, Vershon Lee, it wasn’t there first time going to Lexington, Kentucky or it wasn’t their first time going to Clemson, South Carolina,” Beamer said. “Now, it was their first time going to Tuscaloosa and Norman, Oklahoma. We had a veteran team that they thrived on that. They loved going to other team’s stadiums.
“When you travel, whether you go Thursday, Friday. Whether you go to the stadium or don’t go to the stadium, whaever it is. Just trying to keep your routine the same but just have a veteran group that thrives in that environment and that’s what we had.”
As Bradford pointed out during the interview, the Gamecocks outscored their opponents on the road this season, 136-63. As far as if they changed anything with their routine, Beamer went back to changes they made for road trips following the 2021 season, which was his first leading the way for the Gamecocks.
“I think it is a culmination of things,” Beamer said. “You go back to 2021, my first year, we won on the road at East Carolina, but we went down 14-0. We were down 7-0 on the first play of the game. We went to Georgia and we battled for a half. We had two road games that year, Texas A&M and Tennessee, where we just got ambushed in the first quarter.
“One thing going back to 2022, one thing we started doing a little bit differently is, most teams when they travel, they get on the plane, they fly where they are going, they land and go to the hotel and that’s it. … We just started on Fridays, we get there a little bit early, and we go to the visiting team’s stadium. We don’t really do anything. We literally just walk around for about 10 minutes. I know our players like it.”
Beamer mentioned how being able to walk through the stadiums on Fridays before the game allows them to get some of the ‘wow’ factor out of the way before the stadium fills up on Saturdays.
“I think that has been good for us to be able to get the wow factor out of their system because some of these stadiums that you walk into in the SEC, if it is your first time in this league, your first time going into that stadium, there is a wow factor when you walk in there, Williams-Brice included,” Beamer said. “Let’s get that out of the system. Let’s let you figure out where your locker is. Where the bathroom is. How to get to the field from the locker room. We started doing that in 2022 and we have been a little better on the road each year.”
Beamer detailed how exciting it is to be able to secure road victories and in 2024, his team experienced that four times, which was the most in his tenure as head coach.
“There is nothing like being on the road and the game is in hand and you are sitting there in the opposing team’s stadium and it is starting to empty and the only people there are the garnet and black that made the trip,” Beamer said. “And then going into the visiting team’s locker room and celebrating and getting on that plane or bus. Williams-Brice is awesome, don’t get me wrong. It is a special, special thing being able to go on the road.
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