The beginning of the college football season is right around the corner. As teams prepare for the next five months of competition, one of the realities all coaches have to deal with is the health of their rosters. Injuries spring from the challenges of fall camp and even linger from the prior seasons. For the South Carolina Gamecocks, a litany of injuries have taken their toll on head coach Shane Beamer’s roster, however a silver lining appears ahead.
Earlier this week, it was announced that wide receivers Jayden Sellers and Jayden Gibson both suffered season-ending injuries. According to Beamer, both were non-contact occurrences. With a receiving room that has already lost Vandrevius Jacobs to the transfer portal and an offense that looks to get off to a hot start with their new offensive coordinator, Kendall Briles, the loss of the Jayden’s puts their aspirations at a standstill.
The receiving room is not the only area the Gamecocks have taken lumps at. Perhaps even more critical, their line of scrimmage received some bad news this week. Per a report from On3, Beamer also announced this week that it was “unrealistic” for transfer offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak and star EDGE Dylan Stewart to be available for week one.
However today, during his weekly press conference, Beamer clarified those statements saying it’s possible both Peak and Stewart could be back soon.
“They could very easily be cleared before the Kent State game and then I have to make a decision if they’re gonna be able to play or we should play. If they just got cleared tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t,” Beamer said.
“We’ll have them out there when they’re ready and they’re getting closer and closer every single day to being cleared.”
Peak injured his knee during the offseason, which has unfortunately not healed at a rate that is conducive to getting him back on the field. With an offensive line that is essentially brand new and will be at the core of their offensive success, the NC State transfer’s status is not a positive omen for the Gamecocks.
Dylan Stewart’s injury dates back to 2025. A nagging back injury caused him to miss only one game at its entirety last year, but the pain disrupted his ability to stay on the field consistently, causing him to miss snaps and even leave games early.
Though Beamer announced the doubt of Stewart being on the field for week one, it’s been widely known that the projected top-ten pick has been dealing with rehabbing the injury, as he’s missed all of the team’s fall practices. Stewart is seen as one of the major cornerstones for the Gamecocks, and truthfully has been since he stepped on campus. For the sake of the Gamecocks and their fans, hopefully Stewart’s absence from participation allows him to come back to the field at full strength.
The Gamecocks will kick off their season on September 5 at 12:45 PM ET on SEC Network.
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