The South Carolina Gamecocks got back in the win column on Saturday, picking up a 35-9 win against the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.
The win marked South Carolina’s first in October and the team’s second in SEC play. They are now 4-3 on the season and 2-3 in SEC play.
After the game, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer reflected on his return to Oklahoma. Beamer was the Sooners’ associate head coach from 2018-20 and helped Oklahoma win three Big 12 Championships and saw the team appear in two College Football Playoffs, a far cry from the 2024 Sooners who dropped to 4-3 with the loss.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t extra special coming back to a place that I have so many amazing memories at, personally. The time I came here, you know, not to get sappy as a dad.. we had a nine-year-old daughter and a young son when we moved here, and now that nine-year-old daughter is driving and taking the PSAT, and the son is criticizing coaching decisions and things like that,” Beamer said in his postgame press conference.
The game didn’t cause much stress or tension for the head coach. South Carolina scored the game’s first 24 points and took a 32-3 lead into halftime.
Beamer added that while Norman holds special memories for him, he would have been proud of the win either way because his team bounced back from its heartbreaking loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on October 12. South Carolina nearly pulled off an upset of the Tide in Tuscaloosa, but a game-tying two-point conversion attempt resulted in an incompletion.
“Whether I had coached here or not, this would have been like one of the more special wins in my time here, because of the way that our guys played, the way they responded coming off a bitter disappointment last week and then just came right back to work and got better this week. That’s what makes it even more special,” Beamer added.
The Gamecocks have a bye week and will return to action on November 2 against the Vanderbilt Commodores.
