It's officially talkin' season. The Gamecock baseball team shortened the offseason by two weeks but alas here we are. Through two seasons Gamecock Head Football Coach Shane Beamer was complied a 15-11 record with a several marque wins amongst the 15. He is 1-1 against Florida, Tennessee, Clemson, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and in bowl games. Pretty much any rational fan would have signed up for those types of wins after the 2-8 2020 campaign. Here at GamecockScoop, we wanted to take a look back at all 15 wins of the Beamer Era, and as we are prone to do, rank those victories.

With exactly 15 wins, this makes for an easy three-part series. The wins we are looking at today aren't ones that you'll tell your grandkids about, but as the old saying goes "a win is a win is a win." Below are wins 15-11.

There was a very uneasy feeling in the fourth quarter in Williams-Brice on October 16, 2021. It appeared that the Vanderbilt Commodores, whom were riding a 15-game SEC losing streak, were going to sneak out of Columbia with their first conference win since 2019. Like many of the wins in the first half of Shane Beamer's first season in Columbia, it didn't come easy. In the first quarter, the Gamecocks looked like the team that would boat race Florida and upset Auburn and North Carolina. In the second, third, and most of the fourth quarter, they looked like the 1999 Gamecocks. Just how far had the program fallen and was Shane Beamer the man to turn things around? In a microcosm of his tenure, the Gamecocks never quit and found a way to win answering the latter part of that question.

South Carolina had a crisp opening drive to take a 7-0 lead on a Luke Doty to Nick Muse 2-yard score. After Vandy responded with a field goal, Doty would find former Gamecock tight end Jaheim Bell on an 82-yard touchdown pitch and catch to take a 14-3 lead. Then the wheels came off. Carolina would punt after their next two drives and then waste a golden scoring opportunity set up by a Jordan Strachan interception. A MarShawn Lloyd fumble would lead to a Commodore touchdown before the half to cut Carolina's lead to 14-10.

South Carolina started the second half with a fumble, missed field goal, and an interception. With 1:36 left in the ballgame, Carolina found themselves down 20-14 to the lowly Commodores. Enter the former Grad Assistant, Brig. Gen Zebuliah Noland. As Zeb Noland entered the game cold off the bench for the final drive, he told his teammates in the huddle “Keep me clean. I got you. That's what I said, and let's roll.” And roll they did. It took the Gamecocks just eight plays to drive 75 yards. Noland would hit Xavier Leggette on a 9-yard touchdown with 0:37 seconds to save Coach Beamer's first season. Outside out the last 90 seconds, this is not game you want to rewatch. Not all wins are equal. but they are all better than losing.

Kevin Harris led the SEC in rushing in 2020, yet through four games South Carolina had one rushing touchdown in 2021. They only mustered 101 yards on the ground against a Troy team that finished 2021 5-7, 34 of those yards came on a Josh Vann run. Meanwhile, Trojan back B.J. Smith turned 19 carries into 102 yards and a score. This wasn't what Gamecock fans were looking for heading into the meat of the SEC schedule. As a unit, the Gamecocks only racked up 19 first downs, 356 yards, 16 points, and only a single offensive touchdown. This was a one possession game until 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter when Parker White hit his third field goal of the day.

The first play of the fourth quarter was nearly the most disastrous of Beamer's short tenure. Jaylan Foster sacked Troy QB Taylor Powell causing Powell to fumble. The loose ball was picked up by Jahmar Brown who proceeded to flip the ball forward into the air as he thought he had crossed the goal line on the fumble return. There wasn't a Trojan player within five yards, but the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone. Instead of a scoop and score, it was first and ten Troy after the touchback.

It could have been a career day for Brown, as he had blocked a punt earlier in the second half. The Gamecock defense bent but never broke, turning the Trojans over four times including a David Spaulding 74-yard pick-six.

Hurricane Ian was expected to thrash the South Carolina coast, it did end up hitting Myrtle Beach but overall the Palmetto State was spared the worst of Ian's wrath. One of the minor consequences was that the Gamecocks’ scheduled Saturday home game against SC State was moved to Thursday night earlier in the week. As a result, the crowd was light. The paid crowd of 61,551 appeared to be closer to about 40-45k in actual attendance.

The Gamecocks came out of the tunnel flat. It took the entire first quarter for the Gamecocks to score. Spencer Rattler hit MarShawn Lloyd on a five-yard touchdown pass on the first quarter's final play. The Gamecocks would push that lead to 22-0 at the half. The Bulldogs marched right down the field on their first possession of the second half and cut the lead to 22-7. The Gamecock dominated the remainder of the game winning 50-10, South Carolina's offensive line struggled to open holes against the undersized Bulldog front seven. Rattler threw two interceptions, one on the game's opening drive and another coming off a turnover that started the Gamecocks drive in the State red zone in the second quarter. The Gamecocks did block two punts, but Josh Vann fumbled on the recovery and turned the ball back over to State. Carolina mustered only 404 yards of offensive against outgunned Bulldogs.

In terms of overall play, this was one of the worst efforts under Beamer likely due to the weather and the opponent.

The Charlotte 49ers were really bad in 2022. They would finish 3-9 and coach Will Healy would be let go at the end of the season. Just five days prior to the South Carolina State game, the Gamecocks would again come out of the blocks slow against the 49ers. Midway through the second quarter Charlotte led 14-10. In the first half, Charlotte picked up third down conversions at will. They would finish 8-14 on the night on 3rd down. The Gamecock pass rush was a non-factor finishing with only a single sack for nine yards. Charlotte's first scoring drive (exactly 7:00 minutes) ended in a touchdown and went for 90 yards.

The Gamecock defense was challenged at the half responded with back-to-back interceptions in the third quarter, (Brad Johnson and DQ Smith). South Carolina's offense did what pleased in the second half with 36 points, 22 coming in the third quarter alone, after only scoring 20 points in the first half. Lloyd was the star of this game with 169 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Christian Beal-Smith added two more rushing scores. Corey Rucker established himself as the most efficient Gamecock in program history. He caught one pass in his Gamecock career and it went for a 52-yard touchdown. The Gamecocks never punted all night.

The Shane Beamer era opened under the lights at Williams-Brice with the overmatched Eastern Illinois Panthers. Eastern Illinois was a bad FCS team in 2021. This game would mark the debut of Beamer Ball 2.0. The Gamecock offense looked vanilla for most of the night. South Carolina struggled to run the ball with the exception of a 63-yard Zaquandre White 4th quarter touchdown. Even with White's 61-yard score, the Gamecocks averaged only 5.1 yards per carry. The Gamecocks looked like a team playing a preseason game in the NFL, they were efficient through the air with four touchdowns but the longest completion of the night was 19 yards. Carolina would rack up a disappointing 430 yards against the worst team on their schedule. Noland did throw four touchdowns on just 13 completions.

What elevated this game above the prior three, besides being the first Beamer win, was the play of the special teams. For a program that struggled to establish an identity under Coach Will Muschamp, they found one in a single game under Beamer. The Gamecocks blocked a punt and converted a two-point play out of fake formation in the first quarter. Debo Williams would block a second punt for the Gamecocks in the second quarter. Jaylen Foster pulled down an interception on the first defensive play from scrimmage under Beamer and Jordan Burch would take an interception 61-yards for the first defensive touchdown of the Beamer era.

It was clear from 60 minutes of football that Beamer Ball 2,0 was going to be about special teams and turnovers. The Gamecocks would maintain that identity over the next 25 games.

Part Two coming soon.