Trouble is brewing for South Carolina this season. It isn’t easy to steer a program with little damage in a conference like the SEC. Shane Beamer, however, has taken a dangerous few hits 4 weeks into the season. This was the year he added momentum to his 9-4 record from last year. But unfortunately, he seems to be pedaling backwards.

South Carolina fell to Missouri 20-29 in Week 4, marking their second straight loss in the SEC. Shane Beamer is now 2-2, but those two wins aren’t doing much to help his case. The ranked Tigers’ trouncing of the Gamecocks caused them to fall out of the Coaches’ Poll Top 25. Mizzou, however, jumped up 3 places to No. 19. South Carolina’s fall seemed inevitable, considering they lost to an underdog Vanderbilt. But going winless in the SEC after another week brought forth a tough reality for Beamer. This is South Carolina’s sixth loss in the last seven meetings with Mizzou.

South Carolina caught up with Missouri in the second quarter with that 49-yard TD pass from LaNorris Sellers. The QB also got sacked 5 times. But an absent rushing game and a shower of penalties caused the wheels to fall off. The Gamecocks were -9 in rushing yards; that’s how absurd the run game was. They also hauled in a whopping 14 penalties for 98 yards. The defense added to their already troubled cause by allowing Mizzou to run amok. Most of that charge was led by Ahmad Hardy, who had a field day at Columbia.

South Carolina still fought back somehow and entered the 4 quarter with a lead. But it got forced into 2 three and outs, after which Robert Meyer wrapped things up with the game-winning 40-yard field goal. Sellers also failed to connect with his receivers in the 4 quarter, adding to their overflowing pot of problems. Shane Beamer sure has to rethink his strategy for the remainder of the SEC schedule.

Last season, Beamer found support for being kept out of the playoffs, when he had a hard-earned 9-4 record. But losing two straight SEC games – one being a loss to an unranked squad – bodes trouble for South Carolina. The Gamecocks won’t be able to catch a breather, as they have to gear up to face Kentucky next week. Before that, Beamer has to get the array of troubles in Columbia sorted. The disappointing show from the Gamecocks forced him to take some of the blame.

Shane Beamer can’t look past the alarming penalty haul

After the Missouri loss, the Gamecocks are nowhere near the level the community thought them to be before the season. The absurd total of penalties is an alarming stat on its own – 6 of them were pre-snap. That definitely got Shane Beamer to comment. “I think it’s hard to say it’s one bad night when we had the number of pre-snap penalties we’ve had,” he said after the loss. “It wasn’t just the offense, […] when you have 14 penalties on the road, something’s got to change, starting with me.”

The average loss of yardage to penalties now stands at 70. Per WR Vandrevius Jacobs, pre-snap penalties are an area of focus during practice every day. But 4 weeks into the season, there seems to be little impact here.

Shane Beamer won’t be able to enjoy the support he had last year if he continues this downward trend. The Kentucky game should be a win for the Gamecocks, considering the way the two squads weigh against each other. South Carolina needs to get back into those rankings by getting things to go in the SEC, and they’re already on the clock.