TaxSlayer Gator Bowl notebook: South Carolina coach Shane Beamer unhappy with blindside block penalty

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer didn't mince words about the Big Ten officiating crew over an incident in the second quarter of Friday's TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, at TIAA Bank Field.

After Notre Dame cut the Gamecocks' lead to 24-17, South Carolina forced a punt from the Notre Dame 4 with 1:08 left in the half. Jon Sot got off a good kick of 53 yards but Ahmarean Brown returned it 7 yards to midfield.

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Not so fast: Dakereon Joyner of South Carolina was hit with an illegal blindside block penalty and the Gamecocks were marched 15 yards back to their own 35. And in arguing the call, Beamer was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and USC had to start at the 20.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler was able to move the team to midfield in the closing seconds but was intercepted by Benjamin Morrison on the final play of the half.

Beamer said Joyner was simply playing was he had been coached: fake a catch to draw Notre Dame's runner off that side of the field. In the ensuing contact, the officials said Joyner committed the penalty.

"If DK wanted to blow the guy up he would have blown the guy up," Beamer said. "He's doing what we teach. I was told it was a blindside block. Maybe it was. I don't know."

Beamer admitted "I have to do better" in avoiding the second penalty. But he also said, "I don't believe I deserved to get a flag," Beamer said.

"Sometimes the officials want to make the game about them," he said.

Scoring in all three phases

When South Carolina and Notre Dame combined to score touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams — all in the first period — it marked the first time since the 1998 game between North Carolina and Virginia Tech to have scores on all three phases of the game.

Gamecocks punter Kai Kroeger threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Rogers from a kick formation in the first quarter and free safety DQ Smith intercepted a Tyler Buchner pass and returned it 53 yards for a score three plays later. Those TDs followed offensive touchdowns for each team and Fortune O'Donnell added a Gator Bowl-record 100-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.

In the 1998 Gator Bowl, won 42-3 by North Carolina, the Tar Heels' Dre Bly returned a blocked punt for a score and Greg Ellis recovered a fumble in the end zone to go with four offensive touchdowns.

Tuten inducted into Hall of Fame

Henry Tuten, who has run the Gator Bowl Pro-Am golf tournament that now bears his name for the last 46 years, was inducted into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony.

The Gator Bowl also honored past chairmen Wes Paxson (1975), John Tucker (1980), Wilford Lyon (1981), Chris Verlander (1982), Henry Beckwith (1985) and Charlie Hughes (1989) and awarded the 2022 Gator Bowl scholarships to Thomas Cush, Nicholas Flowers, Sarah Harpster and Audrey Zimmerman.

Tragically, a family friend notified the Times-Union shortly after halftime that Tucker had passed away.

Etc...

The National Anthem was performed by Marvin Zapf. ... The game's broadcast began on ESPN2 because the Duke's Mayo Bowl between Maryland and N.C. State went past the 3:30 p.m. broadcast window. ... The game time temperature of 75 degrees was the highest since the 2006 game between Virginia Tech and Louisville, which was 76 degrees. ... Marcus Freeman became the second Notre Dame coach in history to beat four ranked teams in his first full season and the first since Terry Brennan in 1954.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl notebook: Shane Beamer unhappy with blindside block penalty