By james art 
Shane Beamer paused and scratched his chin as he collected his thoughts. He tried to think of a word to describe the night he had just experienced.
He could have chosen any noun to describe the way he was feeling right now. Any choice he made would be an acceptable response to provoke his feelings.
“Thank you,” the fourth-year head coach said. “This is a core value of our program.”
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At several points this season, South Carolina came close to scoring. Not many understood it at the time Beamer and his players believed they were right there. Maybe because the big profits weren’t coming.
South Carolina had its chances to earn its signature win. He had a chance to do so against LSU, only for penalties and more fouls to let a 17-0 lead slip away. Then a few weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, the Gamecocks were on the verge of upsetting the mighty Alabama, but the losses proved costly.
But with the chance to write a new script, South Carolina took full advantage and made sure there wouldn’t be another tough loss on Saturday. After many close calls, the team finally broke through. They picked up the long-awaited big win, defeating No. 10 Texas A&M, 44-20.
It was the moment Beamer, players, coaches and fans had been waiting for. They finally got over the hump and proved they can beat one of the best teams in the country. And with such a victory we had to celebrate. A lot actually. As the game clock hit three zeroes, Gamecock fans flooded the field at Williams-Brice Stadium, much like they did in 2022 after beating Tennessee.
“I know I tell you this every year, but I love coaching this group,” Beamer said. “It’s a lot of fun to be with this team. Just the things we do off the field. Togetherness. The closeness of the team. The celebration we just had in the locker room over there. They’re just so much fun.”
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For a few minutes it was like stepping back in time to that fateful November night in 2022. The green grass field was now covered in a sea of garnet and black with fans going wild. It was the reward for finding a way for South Carolina to finish what it started.
“This place was rocking from the time we got here from the hotel through the whole game,” Beamer said of the atmosphere. “They affected the game and I’m so happy for our fans. They deserve it and are a real 12th man for us with the impact they have.”
Faced with the difficult task of trying to beat not only a top-10 team, but the best team in the conference, the Gamecocks had their hands full on Saturday. The key for Beamer and the team was to play winning football.
“Every week we have a plan to win. It never changes. Run the ball, stop the run, win the turnover battle, win the explosive game battle, play smart football, dominate the fourth quarter. That never changes. But as you know, every week I give them two or three things that I think are going to be a really critical part of this game, and one of those things this week for us was to tackle and break tackles,” Beamer said.
“And then we talked about how much smart football, how much winning football can we play? … That was also going to be the key to just playing winning football. And that’s the thing. We’ll probably go back to your question about what’s getting us over the hump in our games that we haven’t been able to, whether it’s Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, we haven’t played enough football.”
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In those losses to LSU and Alabama, the Gamecocks held fourth-quarter leads in both games. But when it came down to it, South Carolina was the team that pushed and let the other team do what they had to do to win. Not this time though.
“We probably go back to your question about what gets us over the hump in our games that we didn’t, whether it was Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, we didn’t play enough winning football. There was just too much to fight. There was a lot of that tonight,” Beamer said. “I mean, we gave up a 70-yard touchdown because we lined up the wrong way on defense and we had two downs. And we had a turnover on offense where we had momentum and did some things that weren’t winning the football either. But we made a lot of winning football tonight and that was the key for us that we talked about all week.”
For Beamer and the team, it’s not just a big deal to get the win. This shows that there is a way to make these gains more regular. By the same token, it’s a win that moves South Carolina one step closer to its ultimate goals this season. And with four games to go, there’s still plenty of work to do.
“In today’s transfer portal and NIL college athletics, it’s refreshing that this is a group that believes in each other,” Beamer said. “I’m very grateful to be the head coach here. I’m so grateful to have gotten over the hump like you said and won such a victory. I’m so grateful to coach these guys and see the smiles on their faces in the locker room.”