South Carolina’s season-opening 24-11 win over Virginia Tech was a full-circle moment for Shane Beamer.

The Gamecock coach grew up on Hokie football, watching his father, Frank Beamer, turn the program into a national brand during a 28-year run that made “Beamer Ball” a household term. Shane played at Virginia Tech under his dad from 1995-99, and spent four years coaching there as an assistant from 2011-15.

For the first time in his head coaching career, Beamer stood on the opposite sideline from the program that shaped him, and he did it in Atlanta, the city where he got his first coaching job.

“I’ll remember just the gratitude that I have for my time at Virginia Tech, growing up, playing there, coaching there,” Beamer said. “I got into coaching in this city, what is it, 26 years ago, I guess now, back in the year 2000 as a young graduate assistant at Georgia Tech. … Then here I am 26 years later, to be coaching in the SEC at a special place like South Carolina. It’s pretty, pretty cool.”

With his father in attendance and repping his son over his former school, the Gamecocks showed the Hokies what modern-day “Beamer Ball” is and left Atlanta 1-0.

It was a balanced effort that led to the win, with big plays from the offense, defense and special teams units. While it looked sluggish at times, the team made just enough plays down the stretch to overcome the Hokies.

South Carolina will return home this weekend for a game against South Carolina State. The Gamecocks and Bulldogs kick off at 7 p.m.

Here are three takeaways from South Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech.

South Carolina has a superstar on both sides of the ball

The Gamecocks have a stud on each side of the ball who can single-handedly be game-changers. Very few teams in the country can say that.

Dylan Stewart and LaNorris Sellers were SEC All-Freshman selections last season, and they entered 2025 with sky-high expectations. One game into the season, and the pair might be on track to exceed them.

Sellers looked great to start his second year leading the offense. The former South Florence quarterback finished the game 12-of-19 for 209 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers. He also made plays on the ground, rushing 13 times for a touchdown and 62 yards unadjusted for sacks.

On the first drive of the game, Sellers utilized both his arm and legs to move the team 75 yards in under three minutes. He capped the drive with a 15-yard rush, breaking two tackles and steamrolling over a final defender before reaching the endzone.

“We just came out of the gate and said we’re going to go straight at them, and that’s pretty much what we did,” Sellers said. “We just got to keep up and keep doing that.”

South Carolina’s offense went stagnant a bit after the opening drive, but eventually settled back in. In the fourth quarter, Sellers made some huge plays, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to Nyck Harbor.

Sellers sealed the game with his legs, rushing for two first downs on the final drive, again throwing players off of his body trying to bring him down.

On the opposite side of the ball, Dylan Stewart had a strong performance. Stewart finished with seven total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He was a force on the defensive line and put pressure on Virginia Tech even when not making a tackle.

“Dylan couldn’t let the frustration get to him where they’re double-teaming him or they’re chipping him or they’re running away from him, because when they’re doing that they’re devoting a lot of resources to him,” Beamer said. “I thought Dylan did a great job. I thought he played really, really hard. He affected the quarterback even when he wasn’t in the backfield.”

Offensive line is a work in progress

The biggest concern following Sunday’s win was the offensive line. While it wasn’t an awful outing, there were a few stretches that looked like it.

The Gamecocks surrendered four sacks, and it would’ve been more if not for Sellers’ ability to escape pressure. There were plays where Virginia Tech ran through linemen like they weren’t even there.

Virginia Tech’s first points of the game came on defense after forcing a safety. The Hokies quickly collapsed the pocket and hit Sellers as he tried to escape out of the endzone.

The group did settle in as the game went on and had a few plays where they looked strong. The rushing attack started slow but eventually found its rhythm. South Carolina finished the game with 125 ground yards, and the line held up for Sellers on some key passing plays.

“I thought they were good,” Beamer said. “I wish we had more depth on the offensive line, but we’ve got a solid seven, eight guys in there now that we feel comfortable playing, and that was the plan, was to get all those guys in there as the game went.”

The defense is coming together

One of the biggest questions entering this season was how the Gamecocks’ defense would adapt following last season’s departures.

Defensive coordinator Clayton White had the answer against the Hokies, showing everyone the team was going to be just fine. South Carolina forced two interceptions and kept Virginia Tech out of the endzone in the win.

Despite losing seven starters, the Gamecocks looked like a cohesive unit. The new pieces blended in well, and the returners picked up where they left off.

Second-year linebacker Fred “JayR” Johnson led the team in total tackles with 10. Johnson also had an interception. Peyton Williams had the second interception late in the game.

“I feel like with them saying that we lost a lot of players and just questioning what we had on defense, I feel like they found out today for sure,” Johnson said.

The defense was not perfect. The team caught a few breaks with Virginia Tech receivers dropping wide-open passes with plenty of field ahead. The Gamecocks also gave up a few deep 50/50 balls that helped set up Hokie field goals.

“Disappointed that on those 50/50 balls they came down with them too many times, but proud of our guys. We were rolling guys in there,” Beamer said.