SerpApi.Org
With a little over three weeks until preseason camp begins for South Carolina, head coach Shane Beamer shared some updates on two of his top players who have been working their way back from injuries.
Beamer said EDGE rusher Dylan Stewart and top transfer offensive lineman Jacarrius Peak are both doing “really good” and “on track” with the season only 46 days away.
“Both were in the facility this morning. “Peak is actually running. Dylan will take another step in his journey next week and should crank it up. Peak, I watched him with my own eyes, did 40 reps of what we call walk-and-press in the weight room, and if you ask any of our players, it’s god-awful and horrible. He did 40 reps of it today.
“They’re on track, and we’ll see where they are from a check-up standpoint here at the end of the month going into August, and hopefully they’ll be ready to rock and roll once we get into the season.”
Questions about this story? Jack Veltri is discussing it with subscribers on The Insiders Forum.
Entering his junior season with the Gamecocks, Stewart has recorded 56 career tackles with 22.5 being tackles for loss, along with 11 sacks and six forced fumbles. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder played in 11 games last season and finished with 33 tackles and 4.5 sacks. However, he played through a back injury that limited his production for most of the second half of the year.
Peak, a redshirt senior transfer from NC State, spent the last four seasons with the Wolfpack, where he played in 38 games and made 32 starts. After redshirting as a freshman in 2022, he became a consistent starter on the offensive line over the next three seasons and played more than 2,200 snaps.
Peak comes to South Carolina as an offensive tackle after making 14 starts at left tackle and 18 at right tackle. He was ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 3 overall player in this offseason’s transfer portal cycle, per On3’s transfer portal player rankings.
Shortly after transferring, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman injured his knee playing basketball during a team event in February. As a result, he missed all of spring practice with the Gamecocks.
Beamer was asked if Stewart and Peak will be ready for the season opener or if they could be held out in games against Kent State and Towson. He said they “treat all opponents the same” and will have them on the field when they’re ready to go.
“Every Saturday is a battle. For us, it will be communication with our doctors like it always has been,” Beamer said. “Good news is, both of those two guys are competitors and want to play game one and get out there and compete. For us, it will be communication with our medical team, the outside doctors – when they say they’re ready to go, we’ll put them out there regardless of when and who.”
South Carolina will open preseason camp on Friday, Aug. 7. The 2026 season begins on Sept. 5 against Kent State at Williams-Brice Stadium. The team’s SEC opener isn’t until Sept. 19 when it hosts Mississippi State to wrap up a three-game homestand.
