Shane Beamer pushes back on 2022 Tennessee sign-stealing talk after latest win

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer used Saturday's 27-24 upset of Tennessee, decided on a last-second 48-yard field goal, to address an old argument that has followed the series since 2022. That year the Gamecocks beat a Tennessee team ranked No. 5 in the country 63-38, with Spencer Rattler throwing for 438 yards and six touchdowns, and some Tennessee fans pointed to wristbands South Carolina wore that night as a sign the Gamecocks had the Volunteers' calls.

Beamer called that line of thinking disrespectful to the players and coaches who scored 63 points that night. He also wondered aloud what theory might surface this year, joking about light from the State Fair, according to the report.

The comments came as South Carolina's season has steadied after a difficult stretch. Two games earlier Beamer was facing hot-seat talk after a 35-34 overtime loss to Kentucky in which the Gamecocks blew another double-digit lead, but South Carolina then won at Florida and followed it by beating a Tennessee team coming off a win over Alabama.

For Tennessee, the exchange is an unwelcome echo of 2022 on a night when the present loss was damaging enough on its own. The Volunteers leave Columbia with a defeat, while the old wristband debate is revived by the winning coach rather than put to rest.