The South Carolina Gamecocks came into 2025 with high hopes after Shane Beamer's team had a great season in 2024. While South Carolina brought stars in LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart, the season was a massive flop with the Gamecocks finishing the season 4-8 with a 1-7 record in the SEC. Before the season was even over, Beamer started to address some of his mistakes.
South Carolina’s offense was a disaster this past season leading to a ton of change, Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula was fired before his first season even ended as the unit was underwhelming. Just six games into the season, Shane Beamer also fired offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley.
In the transfer portal, one of the top priorities was clearly to upgrade the offensive line after South Carolina got its starting quarterback back in the fold. When South Carolina went out and landed NC State star Jacarrius Peak, it instantly made everyone feel better about the group, even though they needed to continue adding.
Jacarrius Peak's injury has South Carolina holding its breath
On Saturday, South Carolina fans were provided an update that no one wanted to see as JC Shurburtt reported that Jacarrius Peak suffered an injury that will sideline him for sometime.
Per multiple contacts, South Carolina offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak has suffered an injury that could keep him sidelined for some time. No word on the exact nature of it or a timeline for a return, but it doesn’t sound good. Peak was the top tackle in the portal this cycle.…
— JC Shurburtt (@jcshurburtt) February 21, 2026
The news is vague as the nature of the injury or what happened hasn't been disclosed as of yet, but the early reporting that it is a knee injury has to be a concern for South Carolina and their hopes of a bounce-back season in 2026.
Jacarrius Peak was the top offensive tackle in the Transfer Portal this offseason, marking easily the biggest win of the offseason for Shane Beamer and his staff. In 2025, Peak was outstanding allowing just 13 pressures and 2 sacks on 486 pass blocking snaps as he would've given Sellers a star on his blindside.
South Carolina now needs to hope that the initial scare is worse than the diagnosis as losing Jacarrius Peak would be one of the biggest blows to this roster.
This story will be updated as additional information is available.