COLUMBIA, S.C. — With a 2-6 record and a four-game losing streak to close out the month of October, South Carolina knew it needed to take care of business against Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt to keep the bowl hopes alive.
With those two games in the win column, Carolina will turn its attention to Kentucky in the final SEC game of 2023. A win over Kentucky and a second-straight victory over Clemson would certainly make November 2023 one to remember.
"I would hope they are bought in because we talk about it every day. Not so much, remember to November, we have to win Saturday. But making sure we are doing what we have to do today and then next day to make November to remember," Beamer said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.
"I think they are bought in. They know. We have always talked about it. October is behind us. October from a record standpoint stunk. That is behind us and now we have a chance to make November special. It is one at a time and not worrying about next week. It is worry about today. It was Jacksonville State and then we will worry about the next one and then we got through the next one which was Vanderbilt. Now we are worrying about this one and preparing for it."
South Carolina is looking for its second straight win over Kentucky after defeating the Wildcats 24-14 in 2022. Kentucky was ranked 13th at the time but was missing starting quarterback Will Levis. The Gamecocks showed no mercy and they parlayed that win into one of the strongest Novembers in program history. Closing out the regular season with four straight wins in 2023 might not rival 2022 in terms of national headlines, but it would certainly salvage what appeared to be a disastrous season in the making.