Wins number 23 through 18 are covered today. We are still weeding through the FCS and Group of Five wins, but there are two SEC victories recapped below.

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 60+-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 only 19 yards. Carolina would rack up a disappointing 430 yards against the worst team on their schedule. Zeb Noland did throw four touchdowns on just 13 completions.

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 2 seasons.

South Carolina again started slow, leading just 14-9 late in the second quarter. It was understandable. Carolina had won a thriller against Missouri the week prior and had a trip to Clemson on the horizon with a playoff birth potentially on the line. LaNorris Sellers threw for 307 yards with three touchdowns and just four incompletions. The Gamecocks scored 35 points in the second half and rested their starters most of the fourth quarter. Nevada transfer Dalevon Campbell led the Gamecocks with 120 yards receiving but the highlight of the evening came when scout team running back Bradley Dunn rushed for a 5-yard touchdown and was mobbed his teammates with five seconds left in the game - not just the ones playing, the bench emptied. The word culture is overused in sports - no one needed to say it, it was right there on the field for all to see.

With the win, Shane Beamer tied Steve Spurrier for the most wins in school history in their first four seasons.

There was only one man in the entire nation that had this game circled on his calendar. Gamecock Scoop's own, Perry McCarty. Perry has adopted Akron as his Group of Five team and knows more about them than anyone else in the Rivals network. Without checking the box score or watching the highlight real - I don't know if I can remember a single a play off the top of my head. The only reason the game is ranked this high is because we are going skew wins over inferior competition more from the 2022 and 2024 seasons. Without a win here, South Carolina isn't in the playoff conversation.

So what did happen- LaNorris Sellers didn't suit up. Robby Ashford got his only career start for Carolina and he preformed admirable hitting on 15-of-21 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for 133 yards on 16 carriers with adding another score on the ground. Greenville native Davis Beville would also throw his only touchdown pass as a Gamecock in the fourth quarter when he hit Connor Cox for a 9-yard score. It would also be the only the touchdown, and catch, in the Gamecock career of Connor Cox. South Carolina out-gained the Zips 549-154. Basically the purpose of this game was to wash the taste of the LSU loss out of their mouths from the week prior.

This rainy Saturday afternoon win over Vanderbilt is the largest margin of victory over an SEC team from the Beamer era. Like a lot of the Gamecocks' blowout wins under Beamer, Carolina didn't pull away until the second half. USC led 13-0 at the break and then exploded for 34 points in the second half. The Commodores could muster only 235 yards of offense as Carolina defeated Vandy for the 15th straight game.

Spencer Rattler completed 28-of-36 passes for 351 yards and three touchdowns. Mario Anderson needed only nine carries to amass 102 yards and a score and Xavier Legette led the Gamecocks with nine catches for 120 yards. LaNorris Sellers would score his first rushing touchdown of his college career on a 36-yard keeper late in the second half. Alex Huntley got the Gamecocks on the board in the first quarter, yes that's right, Alex Huntley. The defensive tackle hauled in a 1-yard touchdown pass.

The win kept South Carolina's bowl hopes alive for another week and provided a bright spot in a disappointing season.

Expectations were high entering year two under Beamer. Carolina had finished the 2021 season +100th nationally in both total yards and total points. Former Offensive Coordinator Marcus Satterfield's seat was white hot. In 2021, Carolina had to use four different quarterbacks, in 2022 they had former Heisman Trophy candidate Spencer Rattler in tow. Gamecock fans expected fireworks, they got them in this game from a familiar unit, special teams.

The Gamecock offense looked vanilla for the second straight season opener. The line was not able to generate any holes as Carolina rushed for only 79 yards on 32 carries. (2.5 ypc). Rattler threw two interceptions to one touchdown and passed for only 227 yards, he was also sacked three times. The Gamecocks' special teams unit under architect Pete Lembo and Beamer would set the tone for the season and give Gamecock fans a glimpse of what was to come. Late in the third quarter, South Carolina was clinging to a 20-14 lead when Rashad Amos blocked a Panther punt and DQ Smith picked it up and returned it 26 yards a for a score. In the fourth quarter, Traevon Kenion blocked another punt that was returned ten yards by Ahmarean Brown for the final Gamecock touchdown. In addition to the two special teams touchdowns, Mitch Jeter connected on two 50+ first half field goals and Hunter Rogers picked up a first down on a fake field goal that set up the Gamecocks only first half touchdown. Kai Kroger averaged 49.1 yards a punt including a 79-yard bomb.

Georgia State was thought to be a formidable opponent. The Panthers had three straight winning seasons and three straight bowl appearances, winning their last two bowls. Shawn Elliot's 2022 Panther team struggled, going 4-8.

This win is the biggest climber from original 2023 list.

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.