There’s a mindset you have to take if you want to pull off an upset against a top-five team in college football, even in a year when so many of those teams have been taken down, and on Saturday night in Columbia, South Carolina, Shane Beamer didn’t have it.
South Carolina pushed No. 4 Alabama to the brink before the Crimson Tide closed out a 29-22 win with a 25-yard touchdown run from wide receiver Germie Bernard with 34 seconds left. Yet, that play, or linebacker Deontae Lawson’s forced fumble a minute earlier, that gave the Tide the ball back, would not have been possible if Beamer hadn’t left the door open.
It’s easy to second-guess coaching decisions in hindsight, but Beamer’s mistakes were noticeable in the moment. It started in the second quarter when, down 7-3, Beamer settled for a 47-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-4 from the Alabama 29-yard line. William Joyce missed the kick, and though Alabama didn’t parlay it into points the other way, that lack of aggressiveness let the Tide off the hook for their poor offensive play early.
The 11.5-point favorite can settle for field goals. The No. 4 team in the country can trust that it’ll have more chances to deliver the knockout blow. The underdog needs to play fearlessly, always on the attack. The head coach who could be on the hot seat without a big-time win should go for the jugular.
Shane Beamer's biggest mistake of Saturday night
Early in the fourth quarter, South Carolina got its biggest break of the game. A Mason Love punt bounced off Alabama’s Jaylen Mbakwe and was recovered by Nyck Harbor. Six plays and 30 yards later, Sellers reached the end zone to go up 21-14 pending the extra point.
A two-point conversion would have made it a two-score game with 10 minutes left and Alabama’s offense on a run of three-straight three-and-outs. Yet, Beamer opted to go up eight points, which did force Alabama to go for two after scoring a touchdown, but a two-score game would have drastically increased the urgency of the Crimson Tide offense.
Down eight, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb had leeway to reestablish the run game on a 14-play 79-yard touchdown drive that ate nearly eight minutes off the clock. Alabama converted its two-point try to tie the game at 22.
It’s hard to play the “what if” game. Who knows how things would have transpired if South Carolina was up nine or up seven, but it’s safe to assume Alabama wouldn’t have taken nearly eight minutes if it needed two scores, and Kalen DeBoer wouldn’t have risked the game on a two-point conversion if South Carolina was up just seven.
The Gamecocks had every opportunity to knock off Alabama. Beamer didn’t take it, and DeBoer, who nearly lost his fifth game to an unranked opponent in just his second season at Alabama, should thank him for that.