COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Another November and another late surge South Carolina and coach Shane Beamer.

The Gamecocks (5-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) have made a habit of finishing with flashes in most of Beamer’s four seasons.

In Beamer’s first year in 2021, the overmatched Gamecocks beat SEC powers Florida and Auburn down the stretch of the regular season and finished with a victory over North Carolina in Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

A season later, South Carolina went even bigger by beating a pair of Top 10 teams in consecutive weeks in No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson, ultimately ruining both teams’ chances of making the College Football Playoff. .

The Gamecocks appear to be at it once again. They followed a historic victory in Oklahoma with another decisive blowout over Texas A&M, then ranked tenth, 44-20.

“Every year I tell the players it would be a shame if we were the same team in September as we were in November,” Beamer said.

Apparently, the Gamecocks are listening and hope to carry that over to No. 24 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

South Carolina was inconsistent and was badly beaten at home in a 27-3 loss to then-12th-ranked Ole Miss in early October. But they came back to win two straight in the SEC, including a 44-20 elimination of the Aggies, who came in as the last undefeated team in the SEC.

“I think we were just moving forward in that game,” South Carolina offensive lineman Cason Henry said. “We were taking the ball away from them as the game went on.”

Heady stuff for a team picked 13th in the supersized 16-team SEC over the summer.

South Carolina ranks fifth in fewest yards allowed in the SEC this season, while running backs Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart have combined for 14 sacks this season. Kennard leads the SEC with 8.5 sacks and Stewart is tied for sixth with 4.5.

LaNorris Second Year Sellers, In his first season as starting quarterback, he ranks ninth in the SEC in total offense with 223 yards per game. He accounted for 350 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout of Texas A&M.

Players and coaches highlight the consistent way the team approaches each week of preparation. The weight sessions have the same intensity in July as in November and the coaches do not let up regardless of whether the opponent is the number one in the country or in the Football Championship Subdivision.

“As the season progresses, we don’t lighten anything or relax at all. We just kept going down the same path,” defensive tackle Alex Huntley said.

The Gamecocks have had plenty of shaky points this season, dating back to the high of a win in September. at Kentucky (31-6) to the disappointment of close last-minute losses against LSU and Alabama.

LSU, then No. 16, trailed 17-0 but rallied to win 36-33 when Josh Williams scored a 2-yard touchdown with 1:12 left. A month later, South Carolina led No. 7 Alabama 19-14 entering the fourth quarter before losing 27-25 on a Crimson Tide interception as time expired.

It’s hard to escape this truth: Finish both games and South Carolina will be competing for a spot in the SEC title game and the College Football Playoff.

Linebacker Debo Williams tries not to think about it too much “because you don’t want to think about the past,” he said. “But I’m human, right? Think about it and where we would be. But that has made us feel even hungrier.”

Henry, the second-year junior, takes a more philosophical view of the losses, insisting that they were essential to the team achieving what it is now.

“I think we needed those losses, I’m saying I like that,” Henry said. “But I think it was healthy for us to lose like that early in the season so we could put it all together in the second half.”

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