Shane Beamer needs more than yards to beat Florida

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer can point to five straight games with more than 400 yards. Finding the wins takes a little more work. The Gamecocks head to No. 16 Florida at 2-3, carrying three SEC losses and an offense whose production looks much healthier than the season.

Saturday’s game kicks off October 10 at 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida is 4-1 and 2-1 in conference play. South Carolina is still looking for its first league win.

SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum questioned Beamer’s future on the October episode of The Matt Barrie Show, after South Carolina surrendered a 17-point lead against Kentucky. “Yeah, he had to meet a standard, and he’s not. It’s impossible for me to believe that Shane Beamer is going to survive. You can see at the end of that game, even as great a game as it was, there were a lot of empty seats. Athletic directors keep an eye on that. There’s no reason why that should not have been shoulder-to-shoulder,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum was giving his assessment of the coach’s position. The football case deserves its own examination as well, particularly against a Florida team coming off a 45-17 loss at Missouri.

1. Give Sellers help without taking away his best weapon

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers ran for 147 yards and threw for 226 against Kentucky. The Gamecocks still lost 35-34 in overtime. Asking him to keep rescuing possessions with his legs leaves precious little room for an ordinary afternoon.

Running back Matthew Fuller supplies another option with 433 rushing yards and 6.1 yards per carry. South Carolina leads the SEC at 256 rushing yards per game. Using Fuller to keep the offense moving lets Sellers pick his opportunities instead of treating every difficult down like an escape room.

The distinction is between planned quarterback runs, which account for defenders with blockers, and scrambles that require Sellers to improvise. Both belong in the offense. Only one gives the coaches much control over the hits he takes.

Sellers’ running also forces Florida’s linebackers to respect him after a handoff fake. South Carolina can use that hesitation to create passing room, provided its receivers finish the play, and the quarterback avoids giving possessions away.

2. Shane Beamer needs coverage to match the pass rush

South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart returned to practice this week after missing Kentucky through suspension. He was absent from Wednesday’s availability report, although Beamer had not confirmed he would play against Florida. Building the plan around an assumed return would get ahead of the news.

The defense has allowed 13 passing touchdowns through five games. Florida quarterback Aaron Philo brings 1,114 passing yards, while running back Jadan Baugh has 613 rushing yards. Committing extra defenders to Baugh can leave the secondary exposed when Philo fakes a handoff and throws.

Across all five games, South Carolina has held opponents to 100.4 rushing yards per game and 3.2 per carry. The front has earned some credit. However, Florida can test the handoff and the throw from similar formations, so the linebackers cannot abandon their coverage simply because a tight end lines up beside a tackle on Saturday.

And Florida’s running game against Ole Miss showed how quickly missed tackles can turn a familiar play into another scoring drive. South Carolina’s edge defenders need to hold their assigned running lanes before chasing a sack. A returning star cannot cover every gap.

3. Make Florida earn something different near the goal line

On the podcast, ESPN host Matt Barrie traced his frustration with South Carolina to the distance between its recent promise and present results. “But at the end of the day, it’s just stunning to me what happened in Columbia after that run two years ago where a lot of people thought they did enough to squeak into the college football playoff when they went on that winning streak at the end of the season,” Matt said.

The immediate repair sits much closer to the goal line. South Carolina has allowed points on all 13 opponent trips inside its 20, including 10 touchdowns. Forcing a field goal can preserve the value of an offensive drive that otherwise disappears in the next exchange.

The Gamecocks have produced enough offense to stay involved. Their defense has yet to send an opponent away empty after allowing it inside the 20.