South Carolina might not be as bad as its 3-7 record indicates. But despite jumping out to a 30-3 lead against No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday, the Gamecocks still found a way to lose.
That wasn’t necessarily surprising to Paul Finebaum, considering who’s in charge at USC. Appearing on The Matt Barrie Show on Sunday, the longtime SEC personality lambasted Shane Beamer following what marked yet another Gamecocks’ collapse.
“There’s nothing like blowing a lead like that, especially at the No. 3 team, especially at their house,” Finebaum said. “Of the 19 mistakes you make in the second half, [if] you only make 18, you still win the game. But leave it to Shane Beamer for his team to make every one of them.”
Finebaum proceeded to note that South Carolina is less than a month removed from blowing an eight-point lead to Alabama in the fourth quarter of its matchup with the Crimson Tide. And while that defeat wasn’t necessarily as dramatic as the one to the Aggies, it does indicate an alarming trend of being unable to close out important games.
While Barrie stated he doesn’t think that South Carolina will fire Beamer, Finebaum didn’t seem as sure, expressing that he believes the Gamecocks may need to win their annual rivalry game vs. Clemson to save their head coach’s job. He also pointed to the university hiring a new athletic director in Jeremiah Donati as further evidence that Beamer’s job in Columbia might not be safe, as South Carolina has now completed the SEC portion of its schedule with a 1-7 record in conference play.
“Shane Beamer right now, I hate to say it, just looks like a loser. There’s no getting around it,” Finebaum said. “I don’t know how he scrapes that away. Eight weeks ago, people were concerned he might leave for Virginia Tech. That’s no longer on the board. He’s got a better chance of leaving being shown the door than he does getting another job.”
While “looks like a loser” might be a bit harsh, you aren’t going to find many positive sentiments attached to the South Carolina program these days. And to think that the Gamecocks’ 2025 campaign got off to such a promising start, only for USC to be entering this weekend’s game against Coastal Carolina having lost seven of its last eight games while currently riding a five-game losing streak.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.