We look at the key plays, hand and game balls, and ask the burning question following South Carolina's 46-0 win over Eastern Illinois.
Three Key Plays
1. Nick Muse for the two-point conversion
After South Carolina’s first touchdown, the Gamecocks lined up for the PAT with the center over the ball and most of the players to the left. The snap went to Nick Muse, who barreled in for the conversion. It wasn’t a totally outside-the-box move - it was planned beforehand to run the play after the first score and it’s a look lots of teams use - but it wasn’t a “traditional” play, which was a welcome change for South Carolina.
“It’s something we’ve been practicing,” Beamer said. “We felt like we had the numbers to get it. It was a chance to get two points and put that on tape.”
South Carolina also went for it (successfully) on fourth down, and executed a two minute drive. Those may seem like small things, but they were changes from the last few seasons.
2. Beamer Ball
It took just a little more than 14 minutes for South Carolina to block the first punt of the Shane Beamer Era. Debo Williams burst through the line and smother the kick, setting up a short field that led to a touchdown. It was South Carolina’s first blocked punt since 2014 (the Carlton Heard game). About 15 minutes of game time later, Jordan Strachan was able to get a hand on another punt, setting up another touchdown drive.
It was vintage “Beamer Ball,” the philosophy Frank Beamer established at Virginia Tech, where blocked kicks and turnover were a staple, with an emphasis on scoring in all three phases of the game. Shane Beamer said the Gamecocks have spent a “crazy amount of time” working on blocking punts. South Carolina only got scores off the other two phases, but Beamer was satisfied.
“That was a fun night,” Beamer said, later adding, “If you want to call it Beamer Ball 2.0 that was a pretty good start.”
3. Pick six
The game was over and the play was just cosmetic, but man was it pretty. Eastern Illinois tried to cut block Jordan Burch, who brushed off the block and was able to make a leaping interception. He sprinted for a 61-yard touchdown, saying he heard he looked “pretty fast” doing it.
“I’ve been thinking about that play all week, like I’ve got to get a pick,” Burch said. “Coach has been telling me, when you get cut block, put your hands up.”
It was a tantalizing glimpse of Burch’s potential, something that didn’t show up much last season, and another reason for hope this season.
Two Game Balls
ZaQuandre White
A redshirt senior, White entered the game with 16 carries for 59 yards and one catch for -4 yards in his career. He has 12 carries for 133 yards, 4 catches for 39 yards, and two touchdowns against Eastern Illinois, and provided almost all of the offensive highlights. He led the Gamecocks in receiving and he wasn’t catching checkdowns. White added a 63-yard fourth quarter touchdown run, the Gamecocks only offensive play over 19 yards (that counted). White’s 133 yards rushing are the fourth-most in a season-opener in Gamecock history. In a very crowded backfield, he made his case to keep getting touches going forward.
Zeb Noland
I hate to ignore the defense, which pitched South Carolina's first shutout since 2008, and special teams, but Noland deserves so much credit for what he did. Noland went 13-22 for 121 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He missed a couple of downfield throws and mostly settled for short passes. But he had nice zip on those passes and didn’t make any mistakes (I’ll excuse the intentional grounding call because I’m not sure it was his fault and it didn’t cost the Gamecocks anyway). But three weeks ago he was a graduate assistant. To be able to play mistake-free football is amazing.
“Zeb did a nice job of running the offense and made some throws and ad libbed on a few plays in the first half,” Beamer said. “He’s been fantastic.”
Noland credited Connor Shaw for preparing him for the game, but said nothing prepared him for the atmosphere.
“It really didn’t hit until we got off the bus and did that (Gamecock) walk,” Noland said. “The walk seemed to last forever. It just hits different in the SEC.”
One Burning Question
How much of this carries over to next week?
East Carolina is not a world-beater, but the Pirates are a huge step up in competition from Eastern Illinois, and the 46-0 final score masked a lot of small issues that East Carolina might expose. Start with the offense. The Gamecocks rolled up 448 yards of total offense, but there weren’t a lot of explosive plays and South Carolina had trouble putting together long drives (seven of the ten drives went for less than 50 yards). In fact, by South Carolina’s definition (20+ yards), there wasn’t a single explosive passing play. They were better on the ground, with six explosive run plays (10+ yards). But the biggest concern might be the penalties. South Carolina had eight penalties for 61 yards (plus another that was declined because there were two on one play), which is already a lot, but two of them could have been game-changers. An offsides penalty wiped out an interception that was returned to the Panther seven, and a (perhaps dubious) holding penalty erased a 61-yard touchdown run.
“Some dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb penalties out there,” Beamer said. “Dumb things that will get you beat.”
Beamer also said the offense needs to be more efficient and take advantage of some of the opportunities that were there.
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