[ominous music plays]
[man 1] How'd you think they looked yesterday in practice?
[Shane Beamer] That was as good a start as we've had in a while.
[man 1] Yeah.
[Shane] Rucking is just walking with weighted backpacks.
I come in every morning at 6:00 a.m.,
and Chip trains me, punishes me.
[chuckles] I'm not sure what the word is,
but he takes me through things I shouldn't be going through
as a 47-year-old to stay in shape.
[man 2] Let's go!
[Shane] You're carrying a load.
On Sunday morning, when the game is over,
I'm beat, physically and mentally.
We're judged on 12 Saturdays.
As a coach, you're supposed to say, "No, I don't look back."
"I'm thinking about the future, and that's behind us."
And it is, but I'm human. Yeah, I think about it a lot.
[Todd Ellis] LSU survives
for a huge comeback victory on the road,
and breaks South Carolina hearts.
[Shane] Early in the season against LSU,
that was certainly a, uh, gut-wrenching loss.
Our offense got put in some tough situations.
Obviously, with some injuries.
LaNorris certainly wasn't 100% there in the, um… in the second half.
[bold music plays]
And here comes Ole Miss, who's a really good team.
[announcer 1] Ball comes on the ground. Sellers fumbled it.
[whistle blows]
[announcer 2] The final score, Ole Miss 27, Carolina 3.
The most disappointed I've ever been
as a head football coach in the way that we played.
[Alyssa Lang] They are on a bad run,
and given where everybody's expectation was
five weeks ago…
I don't trust South Carolina's 11 on the offensive side right now
to go out and just flat-out beat many people.
[Shane] You know you're getting ready to go to Alabama the next week,
and it's a tough place to play.
But we know we got a brutal schedule. That's life in the SEC.
If South Carolina gets blown out like they did against Ole Miss,
panic button is being hit in Columbia.
[Shane] In this conference, it's a flat-out war 365 days a year.
And if you're not on point every single Saturday,
you're gonna get beat.
[bell chimes]
[birds chirping]
-[coach] We gotta crank it up now. -[grunts]
[whistle blows]
[Alyssa] Heading into the Alabama game…
Hut!
…Coach Beamer wants to prove to the world
that this is a different South Carolina team.
[ominous music plays]
[whistle blows]
Finish the motherfucker!
-Let's go! -[air horn blows]
Perimeter!
[Shane] With LaNorris coming back off of an injury,
we got a big challenge going to one of the premiere programs
in all of college football.
[whistle blows]
[man] To the grid, go deep! Go deep!
Going into Alabama,
LaNorris has only started a handful of SEC games.
Go! Hut!
[Alyssa] You have to think about how important experience is
in the SEC.
You're talking about a first-year starter
going on the road to Tuscaloosa.
[coach] You better back up, Ronnie!
[Alyssa] It's not an easy thing to do.
[whistle blows]
The trust Shane Beamer is putting in LaNorris Sellers…
[air horn blows]
…is massive.
[Shane] How many times have you rewatched the game this week on television?
I've watched highlights, and then I've watched the game twice.
-What will we improve from last week? -[Shane] Hopefully, in everything.
That's what we've been talking about as a team all week,
is just getting better.
Losing games is really, really hard,
but it's harder seeing the sadness in your family's face
when you don't win a game,
because you know they've got to deal with that for the next seven days.
I know I had to deal with it when I was in high school.
When I turned 16 years old,
it was my dad's sixth season at Virginia Tech.
He'd had two winning seasons in six years.
And I went into the DMV.
I'll never forget the guy's face.
I reached across the counter to get the ID,
and he hung onto it and looked me right in the eye,
and he said, "If you want to keep this thing,
you tell your dad he better win some football games around here."
[melancholic music plays]
I will see y'all later. Love you, guys.
-[Olivia] Love you. -Have an amazing day.
-[Olivia] Love you. -[Hunter] Bye.
Love you, sweetie.
[dark, pulsing music plays]
[announcer] Obviously, going on the road, playing in Alabama is a different animal.
This is Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, seats 93,000.
[all] Roll Tide!
[screams]
[announcer] What is the mood of this Gamecock team
after losing to Ole Miss 27-3
and now going in as three-touchdown underdogs
on the road at Bama?
[Michael Bratton] This is a year that is gonna define Shane Beamer.
You gotta be at least making the post season, make a bowl game.
But it's a challenge.
[fans cheer]
[man] Bring it up, bring it up!
[players chatter]
What an opportunity today to put our team, our individuals,
our program on display.
Our culture, for everybody to see.
And that's what we get to do right now when we walk out here.
This is what Coach Beamer's been about all season.
It's a team that's together.
As long as we do this today,
we will overcome every moment that we face today.
If we're together, we're gonna get this done.
-Are we together?! -[all] Yes, sir.
-Are we together?! -Yes, sir!
Debo, get them out of here. Let's go!
"Kill" on three, "kill" on me!
-One, two, three! -[all] Kill!
[announcer] If you're South Carolina in this game, you've gotta be ready to go.
Alabama, they're gonna come into this game with a crazy intensity.
[Todd] Milroe, gonna take it himself right side
and walk in the end zone.
Seven-nothing, Alabama.
[dramatic music plays]
[Todd] Hand-off, straight up the middle of the field.
Fourteen-nothing, Alabama.
Boy, they do build quick, don't they?
We're the underdog, so it's kinda like we don't have anything to lose.
Let's get some points before the end of half.
Coaches, play the guys that want to fucking compete!
[LaNorris] So it's kinda like, why don't I just put it all on the field?
[Todd] Fourth down.
Sellers cranks it up, going towards Mazeo.
Put it in the end zone, touchdown Carolina!
There we go.
[Todd] And just like that, it's 14-7 Alabama.
Going right side, Carolina's down.
That's gonna be intentional grounding in the end zone!
[cheering]
[Todd] Milroe in the pocket, wants to throw, he's got some time.
He's got a closing route!
Into coverage and it's picked off!
-[whistle blows] -[Todd] We can make this a ballgame.
[players yell]
And they scored 12 straight to end the half.
Pitch up the middle to Adaway. At the 15, 10!
Sellers…
Carolina fumbles the football,
there's a scramble for it around the 31.
LaNorris Sellers fumbled, and Alabama's back in business.
[Sellers] Up to that point it was good, making the right reads, protecting myself,
getting us where we needed to be, the position we need to be on the field.
[Todd] Our quarterback's gotta do better with the football, Tommy.
It hurt. It just hurt. Don't really know what else to say about it.
[announcer] First and goal. Milroe, with blockers in front.
Milroe into the end zone!
That is a touchdown.
Milroe, back to pass,
wants more than ten,
and he's got it!
Touchdown Germie Bernard!
[Todd] Boy, the sun is shining brightly here in Tuscaloosa.
Now it's an eight-point ballgame.
You gotta score and get two, and 1:54 to go.
They need a miracle right now.
[ominous music plays]
Sellers throwing down the field.
Jump ball, once…
Nyck Harbor, did he get a foot down?
That's a touchdown!
Now the Gamecocks need the two-point conversion
with 43 seconds to go.
Gotta tie it up
to go to overtime.
[music intensifies]
Sellers out of the gun.
Sellers gonna roll right, throw to the back of the end zone.
He overthrows
and can't convert.
I think he had him open, Tommy, on a corner route.
[melancholic music plays]
That's it, that's it.
Alabama holds on.
The fumbles that Sellers had were the difference.
[Tommy Suggs] Yeah, I agree.
Get in tight, man. Come on, man. Get tight. Let's get tight, get tight.
I wish there was something I could say right now to make it better
because you put so much damn work in during the week.
You deserve to have a different feeling when you come in here in this locker room.
When we come in here, we're not successful, it's on me.
But we can do something about it by going right back to work.
And we're gonna grow from this as well and continue to get stronger, all right?
-Clear? -[all] Yes, sir.
All right, let's get a break.
"Family" on three, "family" on me.
-One, two, three. -Family!
Shane, LaNorris played pretty well, but the three turnovers,
the-- the fumble, and then… Any comment?
Yeah, you can't go on the road in the SEC and turn the ball over.
-[reporters] Thanks, Shane. -Thank y'all.
[brooding music plays]
[Andy Staples] One of the toughest things about the week-to-week grind in the SEC
is if things start to go bad, they can snowball very quickly.
South Carolina's remaining schedule is tough.
Texas A&M, Missouri, Clemson,
all of these teams left to play.
They have to get this fixed.
[tense rock music plays]
[children chattering indistinctly]
Speaking of this coin, Dad,
why don't we put it right here?
Next to beating Alabama.
I think that's a great idea, bud.
Now does it make sense?
[announcer 1] Diego Pavia, under center.
[announcer 2] Vanderbilt takes down number one Alabama!
[announcer 1] One of the greatest moments in Vanderbilt history.
[announcer 2] And the biggest win on the West End.
[fans screaming]
[Diego Pavia] Nashville are still rocking.
Everyone's on top of the bar, and there's millions of people.
This place can turn up, you know what I mean?
[Alyssa] When Alabama beats you, it's Saturday.
[singing indistinctly]
When you beat Alabama, it's the highlight of your freaking life.
I love my school!
Anchor down, drop it on Bama's head!
[TV host] Johnny, what do you have to say to Diego
about what many are calling the upset of the season?
Vanderbilt in the national spotlight. Sounds crazy to say!
Number one in the country! Get outta here!
[announcer 3] Vanderbilt's gonna get back-to-back SEC wins
to build on their huge upset against Alabama.
I'll tell you one thing, Vanderbilt's a team you gotta look out for.
[commentator] Vanderbilt victorious again over Ball State.
We ain't the old Vanderbilt. Let's go!
Now Vanderbilt only needs one more win to become bowl-eligible.
[Clark Lea] In this moment, for the kids…
[chanting]
…this needs to be fun, we need to enjoy this,
and yet you can't get distracted by the success you've had.
[players continue chanting]
[commentator 2] The Texas Longhorns vs. the Vanderbilt Commodores
should be one of the best games in the country this weekend.
[Gunnar Hansen] It's 3rd down, I sorted it by distance, Diego.
[Diego] Yeah, I gotta see pressures.
Stop skipping the wide view.
[Steven Hubbard] What was the D and D?
-[Gunnar] 3rd and ten. -[Steven] Go to practice.
-[Diego] Not practice. -[Hansen] Fine.
-I like to see my steps in practice. -It's different for you.
It's not for you. You don't do shit at practice.
What are you talking about?
You sit at practice and just run around and talk shit.
[both laugh]
That's what you do, fam. That's what you do at practice.
What about throwing the ball?
And odd samurai and even samurai, when I carry the rock.
Those are fake rushes.
Those are fake runs. They only become real on Saturday.
[Steven grunts]
[Diego] I play backyard football. People know that about me. I'm a gamer.
If you want to win football games,
just give me the ball, let me play.
[propulsive music plays]
[Andy] Vanderbilt is on a roll.
[player] Oh, yeah, Q!
[Diego] Let's go! Here we go.
[Andy] It's the first time they've been in the top 25 in 11 years.
These guys can make a freaking bowl game!
[whistle blows]
For a team to become bowl-eligible, you have to win six games.
It is an honor for the bowl games to be able to choose you
at the end of the season.
It's also a path to get more of that national respect
Clark Lea has been working towards.
-[whistles blow] -[Diego] Get lined up!
[Clark] We have an opportunity that could even erase the past for us,
but beating Texas isn't gonna be, um…
It's-- It's not easy.
[bold music plays]
They're gonna test you.
[announcer] Bond, touchdown, Texas!
This Texas team is absolutely loaded.
This is a team that can win the national title.
It's a scary, scary team to play.
[Alyssa] If you beat Bama and Texas in the same season
to become bowl-eligible,
you are looking at one of the most historic turnarounds
in the history of college football.
[dramatic music plays]
[commentator] Welcome to the campus of Vanderbilt University today.
The biggest home game in a generation.
[man] Anchor down!
Horns down, baby, let's go!
[commentator] Let the college football world know
these Dores are the real deal.
[cheerleaders] Go, Dores, go!
[Alyssa] As Vanderbilt has wanted, they've earned respect.
You've got national analysts choosing Vanderbilt
to beat Texas.
[fans cheer]
[bombastic music plays]
[Diego] Before I got here, I called Coach Lea.
[announcer] We are underway in Music City.
And I said, "You want to go to a bowl game,
you come get me."
[dramatic musical flourish plays]
[announcer] Pavia pressured,
trying to scramble, and finds the edge!
He scrambles for the first down, and he hit the pylon!
He's in! Touchdown!
[jubilant music plays]
[Diego] These win margins don't have to be small no more. We can open the gap.
[announcer] Diego Pavia, an 18-yard QB scramble.
[Diego] We've done it before. Let's do it again.
[announcer] Alexander still next to Pavia.
-Tipped and intercepted! -[crowd cheers]
Michael Taaffe with the takeaway!
The one-handed grab.
I don't think it was complacency, but I think we just had a loss of focus.
[announcer] Back-to-back scoring drives for the Longhorns.
[commentator] Moore's got a touchdown.
[Eli] We were trying to prove everybody wrong.
I just think that we kind of had that lack of execution in the game.
A really good team like Texas will take advantage of that.
[announcer] Well, Vanderbilt has not had much momentum in this game
after its opening drive.
Diego Pavia has had a hard time
hitting on the deep balls for this Vanderbilt team.
[commentator] Big time for Vanderbilt here to answer.
They really need an answer.
[announcer] Let's see if David's got another stone in his slingshot.
[tense music plays]
Pavia backpedaling.
And he lobs it downfield for another Texas takeaway!
Intercepted by the Longhorns.
Pavia ran out of magic.
We had three turnovers that game.
You can't win turning the ball over three times.
-[grunting] -[whistle blows]
[commentator] Vanderbilt goes to 5-3.
Bowl eligibility for the Dores will have to wait at least one more week
as they travel down to Auburn.
[melancholic musical flourish plays]
-Bring it up, boys. -[players] Bring it up.
You can hear the emotion in my voice
'cause I wanted to fucking win just like you.
We didn't because we didn't meet our marks, guys.
By the time we settled in to play Vanderbilt football in the second half,
it was too late.
And I see it on your faces,
but here's what I want you to do is just set your jaws now.
How committed are you to focus on Auburn
and know that we gotta have our best effort
to go win a hard road game?
[gate whirring]
[dramatic musical flourish plays]
[suspenseful music plays]
[reporter] You're frustrated if you're a South Carolina fan.
The inconsistencies…
It just feels so bad.
[Andy] South Carolina's got three losses.
Two of those were this close against very good teams.
That's gotta frustrate everybody in the fan base
because they know how good South Carolina can be.
[bombastic music plays]
[Alyssa] This weekend they have Texas A&M.
-Somebody light me up! -[all] Ooh!
[announcer] Explosive play for A&M!
[Alyssa] It's coming in literally at the top of the SEC.
A&M now has so much life,
charging full steam ahead,
with their eyes on a potential SEC championship.
It is a critical juncture in the season for South Carolina.
[intriguing music plays]
[Shane] Losing games is really, really hard.
I come right back into this building,
and I'm getting ready for the next game and the next opponent
and worrying about the people in this building.
Whereas, my kids, they are in the outside world,
and it's not always easy for them, for sure.
They figured out that you could write on the window.
It used to be like, "Daddy, we love you. You're the best dad in the world."
And now it's more like, "You better win or else."
So it kinda shows how my children have evolved.
"Win games or your you-know-what is done for."
Here's the most recent one, "9 and 3, or you're dead."
So they were threatening me with physical body harm as well.
It keeps me humble,
and as I look out the window at the stadium from this office,
any time I start feeling pretty good about myself or get complacent,
all I have to do is look at the notes my kids left. [chuckles]
So certainly, "football family" term is real
because, you know, they're living and dying with every Saturday
just like I am.
[birds chirping]
[Emily Beamer] I do not really leave the house after a loss.
I feel like the town is mad at me.
And I just don't want to have to go out and hear what people say.
[tense music plays]
Season to season can be very different 'cause you can have a really great season,
and then you can have a not-so-great season.
And when Shane and I got married, he said,
"It's not a matter of if we get fired,
but when."
You know, it's one of those things that you just have to prepare yourself for
because you never know, you know?
But you hear the chatter, you know? You hear the people talking.
And before,
our kids have come home and said things about, "Will we have to move?"
So you know they've heard it at school.
It's stressful.
[suspenseful music plays]
[breathing heavily]
[Shane] You have to bounce back quick as the head coach
because everybody's looking to you.
If I'm still hanging onto it two days before the next game,
then we've got problems, and I've done a poor job.
I think the biggest thing with my dad was just his consistency,
win or lose.
In 1992, when they won two games,
he was the same person
that he was in 2015 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
He never got on an emotional rollercoaster,
I saw that.
Sometimes things aren't gonna go the way that you always want,
but it's about how you respond,
and it's about leadership and holding one another accountable,
and it starts with our quarterback.
[ethereal music plays]
[Shane] How you doing, bud? How was your weekend?
Pretty good.
How you feel everything's been in the weight room?
Good.
When you look at your development early in the season,
it was, what, game five against Ole Miss
before you played your first full game, you know.
So just the natural development
that was gonna just happen naturally as you get better each week.
You didn't get a ton of experience.
Some injuries affected LaNorris's development,
but the Alabama game wasn't good enough by him
or by any of us,
so there's just no more excuses.
As we go into the second half of the season,
gotta do some things different
in order to be able to perform better.
[LaNorris] I'm excited. Everybody just is quiet and working, so…
Mm-hmm. Driven to take things farther and see what we can get done. That's good.
[coach] Don't have to bounce. Stick, stick.
[players grunt]
[LaNorris] I don't wanna feel how we felt after the Alabama game,
knowing that we was the better team that day.
I had a couple of turnovers.
You feel like you let the team down,
but you fix it, you learn from it and don't make that same mistake again.
Still got the gauntlet of the SEC schedule.
[moody music plays]
[Andy] Vanderbilt played the number five team in the country.
Vanderbilt, in my opinion, played their C-plus game,
and Vanderbilt lost by three.
[Diego] Let's head out.
-[car door closes] -[alarm chirps]
[Diego] Oh.
[people chatter indistinctly]
[yoga instructor] 5:00 a.m., welcome.
You then close your eyes or gaze down, you turn your energy inward.
[Diego] Man, I fucked us on Texas.
[instructor] It can be a word or a phrase, something that you can come back to.
[Diego] Two turnovers from your quarterback, it's…
it's hard to win a football game.
[mellow music plays]
Every little mistake just adds up and adds up,
but I think, "Have I learned from it? Have I got better from it?"
"Do I look worse?"
That's how I turn the page,
and then once I get done, and that day's over with,
you don't talk about it no more, and you just get ready for Auburn.
[players chattering]
[whistle blows repeatedly]
[Clark] Let's go, let's go!
You can begin to feel entitled to winning really quickly,
and the hallmark of the program's been we're hungry.
Hungry to experience results.
Have a knee, boys.
And then as we were experiencing it, we became a little comfortable.
Raise your hand if you've been held accountable
for some kind of issue with timing,
whether it's class, tutoring, lift, whatever.
Hands down.
We've pulled back on some of the things that we used to be hypervigilant about.
That's 'cause this thing also needs a little room to breathe.
The goal is, of the head coaches, that we would never get in a situation
where we'd come back and say,
"Man, we need to go back to this."
And yet the standards are the tide that lift the boats.
And so again, as we live by those, right, it-- it shows through in our performance.
So carry that forward with you
and know that those are the things that actually unlock the success.
-You guys follow me? -Yes, sir.
This is really important to me, so make it important to you.
-[all] Yes, sir! -All right.
[all chatter]
That's a good sled for you, DA.
So what does that teach us? The only team that can beat Vanderbilt football
is Vanderbilt football.
[ominous music plays]
[Alyssa] Entering Auburn week,
this game is important for Vanderbilt
because coming up after this,
South Carolina,
LSU…
[announcer] Lunges. Touchdown.
[Alyssa] …Tennessee.
Despite what Vanderbilt has done already this season,
those are games that are going to be hard to get wins.
Ready, go!
[Alyssa] But to go on the road at Auburn is a challenge.
Jordan-Hare is one of the toughest places to play.
It is not an easy place to go in and get a win.
No matter what Auburn is doing,
those fans are there, and they are loud.
[cheering]
[stadium announcer on PA] Welcome to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Diego and Vanderbilt are about to go on the road at Auburn
with a quarterback who has already beaten the Auburn Tigers once.
I'm sick of seeing that quarterback.
[chuckles] I've had enough of him and, uh, what a competitor he is.
[announcer] Pavia keeps it, throws to the end zone. It's caught!
Touchdown New Mexico State!
[Diego] When I was quarterback at New Mexico State,
we played him at Auburn.
[announcer] Pavia, this time swarmed.
[Diego] We ended up winning.
[announcer] Over the middle…
Touchdown Aggies!
[Diego] He saw me play in person, and he had an opportunity to recruit me,
but he didn't.
It would've been hard to turn down a scholarship offer to Auburn.
Just having that in the back of my head just is the reason why I like to win
anytime we play him.
[dramatic music plays]
[Alyssa] You can't write a story
better than Vandy going on the road
with the stakes as high as they are for them
against a team that would like some revenge against this guy. [laughs]
[powerful music plays]
[announcer] The Dores reset their jaws after Texas and go for bowl eligibility.
If you can check off a bowl game-clinching win
here today versus Auburn,
this has a chance to be one of the most special seasons
in the history of Vanderbilt football.
♪ Either it's kill or be killed ♪
♪ You don't want no trouble ♪
[player] Let's go, let's throw down. Here we go! Hold up!
[coach claps]
Right, boys, hear me real quick.
It's only so often you get a glimpse in the mindset of the opponent.
I just happened to have it in their pre-game huddle at midfield.
And the starting point, when their coach was talking to 'em,
it was about that you have to bring juice to days like today.
He said in traditional rivalries or big games,
the juice is there. They gotta make it theirselves.
That is, first of all, fucking disrespectful.
He said, "They're still Vanderbilt, and we're still Auburn."
Think about that shit. This is absolutely about earning
some goddamn respect around here. You guys got it? Let's play football.
[Diego] Hey, hey, hey! Hey!
They disres-fucking-spected you in front of your fucking face.
Punch them in the fucking mouth. Third division, let's go!
-"Win" on me, "win" on three. 1, 2, 3! -Win!
[eagle cries]
[dramatic music plays]
[Diego] Reception at Vanderbilt is they kind of expect us to lose.
They expect us to not go to a bowl game.
That pissed me off when I first got here.
-Let's go! -One, two, three, family!
The message was, "We have to start fast."
"We cannot sit back and wait."
"We have to land the first punch."
[suspenseful classical music plays]
[inaudible dialogue]
[aggressive rock music plays]
Oh, fuck!
[inaudible]
[announcer] For Vanderbilt, it's been a brutal day offensively.
Come on, man, come on! We just went through this last week!
Come on, that's easy.
We just went through this shit last week!
[Diego] Coach Lea said, "Head, body, head, body."
And that's just "Deliver the next punch."
You know, head, body, head, body, and just keep going.
[announcer] The snap to Pavia. Auburn rushes three.
Steps up, he throws…
[Vanderbilt player yells]
[announcer] Touchdown!
The Dores on the board first!
-[players cheer] -Hell yeah!
[grunting]
[announcer] Second quarter.
This one is caught by Fairweather at the 15.
Breaks a tackle at the five.
Stretches for the pylon.
Touchdown Auburn.
Auburn has tied it.
[intriguing music plays]
[Clark] As we squared up against Auburn, we're banged up on offense.
But that team was desperate to find that result.
There's no luck in this game of football.
Punch, punch, punch.
[announcer] Ball is marked at the four.
Big play for Vanderbilt coming up here.
Leading by three.
[commentator] This may be the play of the game.
[Eli] Diego, play-action rolls out…
it was either going to me or running back on the corner, back of the end zone.
[announcer] Second and four, Pavia throws.
[Eli] We knew that was going to be a goal-line play.
[announcer] Eli Stowers hauls it in!
-Is it a touchdown? -[whistles blow]
You bet!
[triumphant music plays]
[announcer] That is gonna do it.
Vandy wins it!
[players cheer]
[Eli] That was cool, man. We knew what the stakes were…
and that we needed another game
to-- to officially get to a bowl game.
[fans cheer]
[Clark] The Auburn game is the game that I'm most proud of.
I felt like we squeezed everything we had out of the tube.
[inaudible dialogue]
Well, Coach Lea, officially bowl-eligible with today's win.
What does this mean for you and this program?
Well, it means a lot.
Obviously, I mean, I'm emotional and so proud of our team.
[fans cheer]
[Clark] This is very personal to me, it's my alma mater, it's my hometown.
It's our family's hometown.
And I got so much love for, um, our staff, our players.
[cheerful soulful instrumental hip-hop music plays]
-Whatever. -[player] And we all knew it!
We're anti-Freeze.
-[player] Big time! -Big time!
[players cheer and laugh]
[Diego] When I first got here,
CJ Taylor, our safety, he's like, "Man, I don't know if you're the answer."
And I looked him in his eyes and I said,
"When I take you to a bowl game,
I want you to come up to me and tell me, 'Thank you.'"
-How about them Commodores?! -[all] Yeah!
[player] Let's go!
[serene music plays]
[Clark] Don't ever tell me that our game is not the ultimate team game.
You are resetting every expectation around our program.
And there's nothing we can't do.
Thank you, guys, for making this moment possible.
'Cause it is-- it is a player's game.
-And you guys got it done. -[applauding]
[Clark] I'm really proud of that game.
That represented the things that make us who we are,
the scars, the doubt,
the fear,
the drive.
There was never a guarantee those things would ever be celebrated,
but we were proud of them.
To do it with the world paying attention to it,
it was awesome.
-[players cheer] -[whistle blows]
[coach] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
-[man] We got a private announcement. -Game ball!
For the right head coach who came back home.
[all] Yeah!
This fucking moment!
-[all yell] Yeah! -This fucking moment!
[all yell and cheer]
[Clark] That was a sweet moment of celebration.
[all shout rhythmically]
I think you realize early on you can't do it on your own,
and then you feel so grateful
to be able to do it with people that you love and care about.
[fans yell] Let's go!
[tense classical music plays]
[reporter] It is a Saturday night in South Carolina,
and the Gamecocks are under the lights
where tonight they host the seven and one Texas A&M Aggies.
[fans cheer]
[commentator] Texas A&M has a chance to be a playoff team.
South Carolina, if they want to stamp their claim to this season,
they got a fantastic opportunity to do that tonight.
[classical music intensifies]
[Shane] We have a big challenge on our hands.
We're playing against a top-ten team.
And you better have the mental toughness to deal with that as a husband, father,
head coach in the SEC.
[announcer] The growth and maturation of LaNorris Sellers
is going to define what South Carolina can do in the final month of the season
and really define their 2024 season as a whole.
[indistinct]
How you doin', man? [grunts] You excited?
Let's go!
[marching band music plays]
[cheering continues]
[Emily] I think that Shane does put on a strong face
for, you know, the team and everyone at work.
But the expectation is high.
It's stressful.
[music stops]
[Shane] I can't wait to watch y'all tonight, okay.
How much winning football can we put on tape?
Just winning each play and refusing to lose.
Gonna be a whole hell of a lot of fun out there.
Just be us. It's all we gotta do. Be us, compete our ass off, have fun.
["Sandstorm" by Darude plays]
[announcer] Here it comes, folks. Here's "Sandstorm." Get ready.
[chanting rhythmically] USC! USC! USC! USC!
USC! USC! USC!
[Andy] When that "Sandstorm" is playing,
Williams-Brice Stadium is one of the coolest venues in college football.
The upper decks sway.
[LaNorris] Lights are coming off, everybody's yelling, screaming.
White towels just swirling.
Stadium's rocking and vibrating.
Can't hear the people beside you. It's crazy.
["Sandstorm" continues]
[fans cheer]
[fireworks crackle]
[fans cheer]
-Is it full? -[Hunter] Yeah.
I love it like this.
-Love you. -Love you, babe. We got it.
[Todd] First quarter, no score.
First drive of the night, Gamecocks in all-black.
Five-man rush picked up…
Tipped up in the air and incomplete.
The Aggies coming after Sellers.
[LaNorris] I went in there with a mindset like, "Don't be afraid to make mistakes."
[Todd] Eleventh play of the drive upcoming, with 10:56.
It'll be Sellers running it himself.
Gets a block, inside the 15, 10, 5.
Touchdown Carolina!
Touchdown LaNorris Sellers!
From 23 yards out.
[fans cheer]
[Hunter] Yes, Mommy!
[Todd] Larvadain goes in motion behind him.
Gonna roll left side, throw it back,
and that's Josh Simon, caught, back of the end zone!
Touchdown Carolina!
[dramatic music plays]
[player] Good job! Fuck yeah!
You made a big-time play right through that pressure, man.
Hell of a job making a play there.
[Shane] We're playing really well at that point,
but then we, um, had some tough plays in the second quarter.
[Todd] Here they come, all-out blitz. Sellers, middle screen, got Sanders.
Trying to skid away, but he fumbles the football!
[Tommy] Oh, no!
[Todd] Right into the arms of an Aggie.
Bond's gonna go for a career-long field goal,
at least line up for it, 55 yards.
-Wow. -[Hunter] What?!
[Todd] Good gracious, he got it.
-[Emily] That's a good kick. -[woman] Wow. [chuckles]
[clucks]
[Todd] Reed wants to throw it, backin' up into the end zone…
Got it.
Touchdown.
[Tommy] That's four scores by the Aggies to only one for Carolina.
Gamecocks struggling right now.
[tense music plays]
[announcer] Well, with eight seconds left and no time-outs,
Shane Beamer isn't gonna run the risk of a problem here.
So he's gonna give Herrera the chance to tie it.
The 44-yard try.
My gosh, I can't watch.
[tense music continues]
[players grunting]
-[man] Here we go! -[Todd] It's good!
-Yes! -[all cheer]
[Todd] The Gamecocks tied up at 20.
We'll go to half.
[pulsing music plays]
Let's go, let's go, let's go! Listen to me.
The reason it's tied up right now is more us than them, you got me?
I mean, nobody's scored more than 24 on these dudes,
and we fucking hung 20 on 'em in the first half.
-We're a physical-ass team! -[player] Yeah!
You got the number-one team in the SEC, apparently.
This thing is gonna come down to the fourth quarter,
and we'll see who we are.
Everybody just slow down, go make plays, compete your ass off and finish.
Finish!
[Emily] We got this.
You nervous?
Me too.
[Tommy] The passing game is struggling a little bit, only 126 yards.
Sellers is 9 of 21, one touchdown to him.
You know, we just gotta balance it up here and get some points on the board.
[Todd] LaNorris, hurry up, blitz outside with Sanders.
Up the middle and here he goes!
Rocking at the 40, 30, 15, 10!
They're not gonna get him!
-Touchdown Carolina! -Yeah!
-[cheering] -[Todd] Touchdown Rocket Sanders!
Again out of the left hash mark,
fake inside, steps back, and a throw into coverage!
It's picked off!
[screams happily]
I dominated that throw! I told you I got this!
[Ellis] Sellers now gonna try to run this thing out.
He wants to throw it again.
He's got Josh Simon, who's gonna try to break a tackle.
-Touchdown Carolina! -[Tommy] Whoa!
[Shane] What an opportunity against a top-ten team
at night on national television.
-We capitalized on this. -[triumphant music plays]
[fans] Game! Cocks!
Game!
[Hunter] Mom, Mom! Look at the stands.
[yelling]
[cheering wildly]
They're gonna storm.
-The students… -[woman] Oh, my God, look…
-[man] They're gonna storm now. -[woman] What?
[Emily] Do we do it? Or do we wait?
If we lose, we won't go out on the field after a game.
All right, let's go.
We just kinda wait for him going into the locker room
and give him a hug.
Yeah!
But this game,
it's become our mission for everybody to help get Hunter down there
as fast as possible. [laughs]
[fans cheer distantly]
[Todd] Rocket again, trying left side to get there. Rocket flying…
Touchdown Carolina!
Forty-four to 20.
[fans cheer]
[laughs] That's a long flight back to Texas.
[fans] Game! Cocks!
[Shane] Any time I can share moments with my family in this job,
I want to be able to.
And to be able to have Hunter
on the sidelines with me at the end of that game,
that never gets old.
[tender music plays]
[fans continue chanting]
Are you hyped now?
I love you too, buddy.
-Can I come with you? -Yeah!
[Todd] That'll do it.
The Gamecocks take down number-ten Texas A&M.
[fans and players cheer]
[reporter] Coach, you had fourth-quarter leads
against Alabama and LSU,
you let it slip through your fingers.
Why was tonight different?
'Cause we got, uh, an unbelievably special group of guys.
It says so much about our team.
Like, LaNorris was a young quarterback early in the year,
and he just continues to get better every single game.
I wouldn't-- I wouldn't trade that kid for anybody.
-Congratulations, Coach! -Thank you. Appreciate you.
Guys.
[propulsive classical music plays]
[Shane] You know, it's one of the things I struggle with, as-- as a dad,
is whether they want to live the life or not.
I'm fortunate they've embraced it.
-[father] That is a nice, nice job, guy. -Come on.
Sure turned into a hell of a team.
-Appreciate it. Thank you. -Yeah.
-I like that quarterback too. -Yes, sir.
[classical music continues]
[LaNorris] I still think people don't think
we're as good as we are.
We've been through so much as a team.
Winning that game,
we put the world on notice.
There's a lot of talk about both their quarterbacks,
but I told you we had the one.
[players] Better!
-We had the best quarterback. -[man] The best!
And do we ever, man. Way to ball tonight, LaNorris Sellers!
[all cheer]
All right, last one right here, then we're gonna break it down.
Uh, my wife and family, you're in back. Come on up here, Em.
All right, she's got a birthday coming up this week.
I need y'all's help, but we ain't singing "Happy Birthday."
Hit it, Big Mike!
["When I See U" by Fantasia plays]
[players cheer]
[players] ♪ Hey, hey! ♪
♪ Hey, hey! ♪
♪ I put your picture on my mirror ♪
♪ Start to blush When somebody says your name ♪
♪ In my stomach there's a pain ♪
♪ See you walk in my direction I go the other way ♪
♪ I start to stutter when I speak ♪
♪ Start to stand But my knees go weak ♪
[Shane] We play music during certain parts of practice.
"When I See U" by Fantasia.
♪ I lay my head on my pillow ♪
♪ Just staring out the window… ♪
[Shane] Really just hit me.
It was one of those, "Okay, it's her birthday, what the heck?"
♪ I never know when you might walk by ♪
♪ So I gotta be right on time ♪
[Emily] This life, it's not easy.
A lot of people say, "I don't know how you do it." But…
I have no regrets.
It's been a blessing for our family.
That little cupid!
Nice game.
[Shane] I understand my job is to win football games,
but the most important thing to me
is just making my family proud of the way we do things here.
"Family" on me, "family" on three! One, two, three!
Family!
[Shane] And then just trying to make this program the very best
that it can be on and off the field.
["When I See U" continues playing]
[Alyssa] For South Carolina,
"Can they continue that now?" is the biggest question.
Seeing who's also ahead of you,
Vanderbilt, Missouri,
Wofford and then Clemson…
If you can end the season winning all those games,
it is not crazy to think
that South Carolina could be a college football playoff team.
-[wind blows] -[light clatters]
[ethereal music plays]
[Andy] Jeff Lebby walked into a tough deal.
Mississippi State's basically starting over from scratch.
[dramatic music plays]
But the last game of the season is against your most-hated rival.
For Jeff Lebby, if you win this one,
the next nine months become so much better.
[Jeff] I'm pissed off. I'm upset. I'm disappointed.
Who are we gonna be?
[jubilant music plays]
[Mike Elko] Football seasons get defined by what happens down the stretch.
We didn't come this far to just come this far.
[announcer] Deflected, intercepted!
[Michael] It's year one for Mike Elko, and the Aggies are a win away
from going to the SEC championship.
Something that Texas A&M has never done.
We're gonna lay it all on the line for you.
[fans cheer]
Gig 'em!
[bold instrumental hip-hop music plays] ou.