Shane Beamer has heard enough of the conspiracy theories that surfaced after South Carolina's win over Tennessee.
And not the one in 2026.
The Gamecocks coach, fresh off watching his team enjoy a walk-off field goal vs. No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 24, instead ripped on his team's 2022 win over the Volunteers. In that game, the Gamecocks put up 63 points to knock off then-No. 5 Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium.
"I'm sorry for saying this," Beamer said in a postgame news conference. "But all the bull crap conspiracy theories from the last four years, hopefully, we can put that crap to bed now because I don't even want to give credence to it and give oxygen
to it because it's so ridiculous.
"But it's disrespectful."
Shane Beamer went off on 2022 Tennessee conspiracy theories after beating the Vols:
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 25, 2026
"It's disrespectful to our players & coaches that scored 63 points against them that night.
"I don't know what conspiracy theories they will come up with this year.
"Maybe light from the State… pic.twitter.com/C85RWehamK
As noted by Knox News — part of the USA TODAY Network — some fans have alleged that former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions provided Tennessee's offensive signals to South Carolina defensive coordinator and linebacker Clayton White, who worked under former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford from 2007-09.
The theory suggests Stalions shared the information to help South Carolina upset the Volunteers, which would potentially clear a more favorable path for Michigan in the College Football Playoff race. (Of note, Michigan did make the CFP as a 13-0 Big Ten champion, but was upset 51-45 to No. 3 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal).
Stalions denied those allegations.
In that 2022 game, Spencer Rattler had one of his best starts in a South Carolina uniform, as he threw for 438 yards and six touchdown passes to just seven incompletions. The Gamecocks came away with the 25-point victory in the 63-38 victory, the most points surrendered by Tennessee in an SEC game since 1995.
On Saturday, South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart forced a strip-sack fumble on Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre with 33 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Malik Orsan hit a 48-yard, walk-off field goal to win it for the Gamecocks, prompting a field storm from the fans.
"All these conspiracy theories about the 2022 game, it's disrespectful to our fans that were in this stadium that night. It's disrespectful to our players and coaches that scored 63 points against them that night and held them to 38," Beamer said. "So I don't know what conspiracy theories they're going to come up with this year. Maybe it's the lights from the state fair or something affected their ability to play."
South Carolina, off back-to-back wins against top-25 opponents, will look to extend its win streak to three straight on Saturday, Oct. 31 on the road at Oklahoma.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Shane Beamer ripped theories on 4-year-old win as South Carolina beats Tennessee again
