Shane Beamer explains why South Carolina has a different mindset when playing Tennessee
South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer acknowledged on Tuesday that he coaches a little differently against the Tennessee Vols. And that's one of the reasons why South Carolina was able to jump all over the Vols last fall in a 63-38 blowout win against Tennessee. South Carolina is set to face Tennessee on Saturday […]
South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer acknowledged on Tuesday that he coaches a little differently against the Tennessee Vols.
And that's one of the reasons why South Carolina was able to jump all over the Vols last fall in a 63-38 blowout win against Tennessee.
South Carolina is set to face Tennessee on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.
"The other thing (last season) was making sure our guys understood that our mindset — the way that we were going to coach that game and play that game — was all about attacking," explained Beamer. "And I said it last year in the post-game press conference, you're not going to beat Tennessee — they're too explosive, they're aggressive on defense, they're aggressive on special teams — you're not going to beat them ever just being tentative and passive with the way that you play and coach. You gotta go attack."
"I'm sure they (UT) would feel the same way in the way that they play and coach as well," added Beamer.
Several teams have appeared to have that same mindset in games against Tennessee — though it doesn't always work as well as it did for South Carolina last season.
Florida and LSU each approached their game against Tennessee last season with a similar mindset as South Carolina. For example, they went for it on fourth downs instead of taking field goals or playing the field position game. And it totally backfired.
Part of the reason it didn't work in those games last year is because the crowd wasn't a factor that worked against the Vols (the LSU game was on the road, but the crowd was taken out of the game early).
I'm sure South Carolina will have that same approach on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium. But it won't be quite as easy for the Gamecocks to have that same energy as last season with over 100,000 screaming Tennessee fans in their ear.
Rodney Garner sends strong message to Vols’ defensive line ahead of critical game against South Carolina
It’s a must-win game for the Volunteers
