Life is not good in the land of Gamecocks and Cockabooses.
Shane Beamer's South Carolina program has blown a double-digit lead and failed to score a touchdown, respectively, in home losses this season to LSU and Ole Miss.
The Gamecocks have lost nine of their last 18 games.
But, they also have shown flashes. South Carolina notched a dominant win last month at nationally ranked Kentucky; the LSU loss should never have happened.
Ole Miss this week was clearly the better team, and, at this point, superior program as Kiffin navigates his fifth season as the Head Rebel In Charge while Beamer is in Year 4.
Beamer owned his team's shortcomings after Saturday's loss, and he also measured his words rather carefully after a reporter asked him about the unofficial 11 instances that play was stopped during the game due to alleged injuries of Ole Miss players. J.J. Pegues, the defensive lineman who also scored an offensive touchdown in the game, went down multiple times.
"Whew. First of al, I hope all those guys are okay, for sure," Beamer said. "Umm ... we had some guys that had some injuries as well, and umm Boogie (Huntley) and (DeAndre) Jules went down a couple times, and I hope they're okay. I hope they're okay.
"It's remarkable, to me, how many, maybe it's something ... and listen, I've got my own problems; we just got our butts kicked 27-3. But it's fascinating to me, how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down. Or has a big play. And, you go back and watch the Wake Forest game, it happens a lot to the same guy.
"You watch the Kentucky game, it happens a lot."
Beamer intimated that South Carolina would ask the Southeastern Conference office to review the video and look specifically at the spate of Ole Miss injuries. He also noted he doesn't fault officials, who must err on the side of player-safety in-game.
"So, certainly we'll look at the tape and I know there's an (SEC) review process as well. But it's, again, I hope those guys are well and they're great players and, you know, I really hope they're okay," Beamer said. "I know we had a big injury report this week, and I'm sure it will be another big one this week as well.
"But, we'll look at it and there's not much the officials can do during the game but certainly it's a thing that we'll discuss with the people above us as well."
Making sure to emphasize he needed to focus on getting the Gamecocks right, Beamer could not resist noting that if the injury actions of Ole Miss players are less than genuine, it's a poor look for the sport.
"Again, I got my own problems on our own team right now," Beamer said. "I think if it's ... the timing of some of the injuries, it's a really bad look for college football.
"And, it's not what this game's about ... if what it looks like is accurate."