Shane Beamer calls out ‘a team’ for faking injuries, but this is not a mystery at all
Had Shane Beamer’s South Carolina Gamecocks not looked so pitiful vs. the Ole Miss Rebels, maybe they would have made the College Football Playoff? South Carolina and Ole Miss were among the first few teams out of the 12-team playoff field with identical 9-3 (5-3) records. Although the Gamecocks were playing some fantastic football toward the end of the year, it was not meant to be.
Months later, Beamer continues to voice his frustrations over how “a team” played his team last season. It is not hard to figure what team team Beamer is talking about. Ole Miss had a bit of a bad reputation for faking injuries while on defense to slow the game down. Under Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss has normally been an offensive-driven team, but one that mostly struggles to slow the opposition down.
Since the SEC schedules flip this season, South Carolina will have to play Ole Miss again this fall.
Shane Beamer indirectly calls out Ole Miss for faking injuries in games
For years, we have known about the character and persona Kiffin puts out there into the world. Never change, Lane. Never change. While he has grown up a lot since dinner, Kiffin is often too much of a troll and too much of a jokester for him to ever reach the summit of the college football world. In a way, I think he has held Ole Miss back from making the playoff. Then again, he has elevated them…
As for Beamer, he can often be a lot of bark and no bite. While he has returned South Carolina to respectability, we have seen his team get its collective ass kicked at least once or twice every season since he took over. The Ole Miss loss was the worst South Carolina suffered a year ago. While they can beat quality SEC teams with decent regularity, maybe Beamer’s brashness holds them back, too?
At the end of the day, you have to like two teams who do not face each other often enough in conference play getting a little bit chip. It is why it is just different in the SEC. We know all about their primary rivals. Frankly, some SEC teams’ secondary rivalries are better than other league’s primaries. As for tertiary or even ancillary ones emerging like Ole Miss vs. South Carolina, this is intriguing stuff.
