Why Shane Beamer was impressed by South Carolina football's offense in scrimmage

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer said he was impressed by how his offense protected the ball in the team’s scrimmage on March 28.

Beamer said the Gamecocks had a 65-play scrimmage on their practice field, and the offense only had one turnover. Cornerback Peyton Williams forced a fumble on the second play of practice.

Other than that, South Carolina took care of the ball.

“Y’all heard me say it. We’ve turned the ball over too many times over the last few years,” Beamer said March 31 after South Carolina’s 10th spring practice.

South Carolina had its worst season under Beamer last year with a 4-8 record. A key reason was turnovers. There were 18 (seven fumbles lost and 11 interceptions), which was tied for fourth in the SEC.

In their final game of the season, the Gamecocks had four turnovers against rival Clemson.

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers played a role in the offense’s miscues, with eight interceptions and four fumbles. This contributed to South Carolina firing offensive coordinator Mike Shula in November and hiring former TCU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles in December

Beamer has been encouraged by his offense, even though the unit failed to score a touchdown twice in the red zone after having a 15-play and a 12-play drive. He said he wanted to see the offense score in this situation on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal.

“I feel like we’re farther along than what we were after 10 practices, just the protection on offense, protecting the ball, the way we’re operating. Like where we are offensively,” Beamer said.

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Shane Beamer reacts to South Carolina football scrimmage