South Carolina football has 'tunnel vision' vs. Missouri after first ranking since 2018
COLUMBIA — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer has been a part of several ranked programs over more than two decades in coaching, but those teams don't compare to the first ranking of his head coaching career.
"I'd love to give you the cool coach speak and tell you they're all the same, but when you're the head coach and and and you're ranked, it's certainly something we're proud of but not satisfied," Beamer said Tuesday during his weekl press conference. "I look at it more as it's just the next the next step, and credit the players and the people in this program to be two years ago at this time a two-win team. Being ranked in the top 25 was the furthest thing from anybody's mind."
No. 25 South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC) is ranked for the first time since 2018 after beating Texas A&M for the first time in series history last week. The Gamecocks will look for redemption again this week when Missouri comes to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network). South Carolina was upset on the road by the Tigers 31-28 last season.
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In the midst of a four-game winning streak — the team's longest since 2013 — Beamer hasn't forgotten last year's loss.
"None of us were proud of that, none of us enjoyed that day in Columbia, Missouri, last year, and that was a long bus ride back to St. Louis that night," Beamer said. "That game doesn't really have anything to do with this year's game, but we've got plenty of motivation to get better as a team ... It's just tunnel vision, and whatever you can find to motivate yourself and have yourself play with an edge every week."
Sixth-year lineback Brad Johnson hasn't forgotten the hard times, either. He was at South Carolina the last time the team was ranked, but he also lived through the worst seasons of Will Muschamp's tenure and said he has to remind himself that the younger players never experienced that kind of adversity.
"This is all they know, which is a good thing," Johnson said. "This culture, this standard that we've set up winning so far this season, they've become accustomed to it, so they're going want that ... every year. But I've got to remind those guys, it just doesn't happen. It doesn't come easy. You've got to work for the job, put in the work and once you do that, things will fall into place."
Still, Johnson said it's not difficult to ignore the external noise, whether positive or negative. He said the team felt disrespected at the beginning of the season after back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Georgia, so they learned the hard way how to focus on themselves.
"We were expecting some notoriety ... and at the beginning of the season, we really felt like we didn't receive any respect. Our playmakers weren't getting any love or respect outside like some of the other teams were," Johnson said. "Now we're on this little streak and starting to get some positivity ... (and) pats on the back, but the same way where we had blinders on and we were trying to take focus on what we had to do ... what we're doing now is just blocking out that same positivity. Coach Beamer has been emphasizing being resistant to comfort, so really that's what we're trying to do is resist all comfort, in any manner."
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football protects national ranking at Mizzou
