CLEMSON, S.C. -- Shane Beamer sat in front of his locker, rubbed a hand through his hair and admitted it all felt surreal.
This time a year ago, his South Carolina football team had just lost to Clemson at home to cap a disappointing 5-7 season. There was a sense of uneasiness, at least outside the walls of the Gamecocks' football complex, about where the program was headed. Beamer was convinced the best days were ahead.
Saturday was one of those days, as No. 15 South Carolina rallied behind a sensational performance from redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers to beat No. 12 Clemson 17-14 and stake its claim as one of the 12 College Football Playoff teams. Beamer, whose Gamecocks have won six in a row -- four over AP-ranked teams -- said the tape doesn't lie.
"If I'm watching tape and see our team and what we have at quarterback, the way we can play defense and the way we can play special teams ... there's no way I'd want any part of us," Beamer told ESPN. "We've won six games in a row, and it's not like we've been playing slaps. And then to come into here today in this environment and do what we did seals it in my mind.
"I get it. We have three losses, but you've got to look at how those three losses happened and who they were against. Two were by a combined five points. But if you're the committee and you're sitting there saying, 'Who are the 12 best teams in the country right now?' I don't think you can keep us out, in my opinion."
The Gamecocks (9-3) were already being hailed as perhaps the best three-loss team in the country with the way they've played since a heartbreaking 27-25 defeat at Alabama on Oct. 12.
"I think we're the hottest team in the country right now. ... I hope the committee does the right thing and puts us in the playoff," South Carolina defensive back Nick Emmanwori said.
Beamer joked that maybe even Steve Spurrier will do some lobbying on the Gamecocks' part. Spurrier called Beamer last week and left a message.
"He said this might be the biggest South Carolina-Clemson game ever and that the winner deserves to be in the playoff," recounted Beamer, who coached under Spurrier at South Carolina on the three teams from 2011 to '13 that finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll all three seasons.
In getting to nine wins, Beamer became only the second coach at South Carolina in the past 40 years to win nine games in the regular season. The only other one was Spurrier, who did it four straight seasons from 2010 to '14. Beamer also passed his former boss for the most wins by a South Carolina coach in his first four seasons (29).
"I'm happy for the fans and the people in South Carolina, and indebted to our players for the way they stayed together this offseason and then this season when we were 3-3," Beamer said. "We talked, and they said, 'Coach, we're winning out. We have to.'"
And now here the Gamecocks are hoping things fall just right for them and that their résumé is what the committee is looking for when the final rankings are released on Dec. 8.
"We've got a good football team and one that's only gotten better as the season has gone on," Beamer said. "I'll be honest. I was kind of surprised by how many low expectations there were [by the media] for this team coming back in 2024 because of what we returned. I know it's easy to say, 'Well, they went 5-7. They lost Spencer Rattler. They lost Xavier Legette, so they're going to suck.'
"Well dig a little bit deeper. Who was coming back? We had a lot of seniors, and yeah, we had some guys who left for whatever reason, a receiver that left because he didn't think we had a quarterback and a kicker who left because he wanted to kick in meaningful games. We wish them well and they're great kids, but the guys we wanted back, we got back."
Beamer noted that the team voted on permanent captains at the end of last year, and of the seven top vote-getters, four returned for this season.
"We have kids who wanted to be here, who believed in what we could do and invested completely," Beamer said. "We're nowhere near being done, but this is where we all wanted to be and expected to be."
A lot of that can be attributed to the play of Sellers, who rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 164 yards in Saturday's game. His final TD was one that will be remembered in this rivalry for a long time. On third-and-16, he escaped the Clemson rush -- as he did time and time again Saturday -- and rambled in for the game-winning 20-yard touchdown run with 1:08 to play.
"He's the best player in the country and only going to get better," Beamer said.
Senior linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. said the players on the team call Sellers "Magic."
"Because it's like abracadabra and he's in the end zone," Knight joked.
As Beamer left the field Saturday after the game, he had a video call with his parents, who were unable to attend the game. He said they both had tears in their eyes. He celebrated with his family after doing his coach's show, and his son Hunter even made a trip down the famed hill.
"I'm going to enjoy this one for a while, but hope we get some good news in a week when the final ranking comes out," Beamer said.