Most fans know the theory about South Carolina’s 63-38 upset win over Tennessee in Columbia in 2022.

If you somehow don’t, the theory is that South Carolina had Tennessee’s signals, via former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions, and that’s why the Gamecocks were able to upset the Volunteers and keep UT out of the College Football Playoff.

Here’s the evidence that supports the theory:

• There was a connection between Michigan and South Carolina via Gamecocks defensive coordinator Clayton White, who previously worked under then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
• Michigan scouted a Tennessee game in person and, according to a report from Football Scoop, the Wolverines may have shared information with opponents of potential playoff teams to disrupt their path to the playoff. 
• South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was fined in 2015 for accepting information about another program’s game plan. 
• Just a couple of weeks before playing Tennessee in 2022, Beamer told reporters that he shares information with other programs/coaches about opponents. 
• Stalions admitted in 2024 that he shared signals with Ohio State in 2021 because Michigan needed Michigan State to lose to the Buckeyes, so he had admitted sharing information before. This is relevant because Michigan needed Tennessee to lose as insurance for the Wolverines to make the playoff.

White sat down with 1801 media this week and discussed the Gamecocks’ blowout win over the Vols. He also discussed the wristbands that South Carolina’s defense wore that night to help simplify the defensive play calls.

“It’s one of those games where Tennessee just scored 66 points the week before,” said White. “So I was like, alright, we have to slow them down. Stopping them is going to be hard. It was just a fun game. I think the main thing looking back on it now is that you know people try to say we cheated, so you don’t get credit for it. So I’m more upset about that than anything. But that was a great opportunity for us. I was just proud of how we played, and then the whole wristband thing. I mean, it’s crazy.

“Obviously, when you’re playing an offense like Tennessee, the number one thing is how can you replicate the offense during the week (of game prep). So I came up with this idea that the offensive scout team was going to wear wristbands so they can run their plays fast. Cam Smith, one of my defensive backs, was like, ‘Coach, why can’t we wear wristbands — you can give us our plays fast’. So I was like, ‘Perfect.’ So we made some wristbands for defense. Six plays were on them. Like six plays. Like come on, man! That’s a good six plays. I know. And so like this was the first game. This is one of the games where Tennessee was going so fast. I said, ‘Guys, on the sideline, we’re gonna call two plays. Don’t even look over here. We don’t have time.’ So you don’t have time to steal someone else’s signals. I didn’t have time. I would say, ‘Listen, we’re going wristband one, wristband three. Don’t look over here.’ That’s what the wristbands were really for. So it had nothing to do with their signals. I don’t have time to do that.”

I remember the wristbands being a topic the week of that game. The theory was that South Carolina would look for an indicator from the Tennessee sideline and then call out the corresponding play call (via the number system that White mentioned) from the wristband. The other theory is that it was actually Tennessee’s defensive signals that South Carolina utilized (which would make more sense considering how easy the Gamecocks gashed the Vols’ defense that night).

Former Vols quarterback Joe Milton, who finished the game against South Carolina after Hendon Hooker tore his ACL in the second half, is among those who believe the Gamecocks “cheated.”

Former Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack, however, said earlier this year that he believes the Vols just simply didn’t play well that night.

“You know, we did not,” said Mack when asked if Tennessee’s coaches ever discussed if they thought South Carolina had the Vols’ signals.

“Honestly, we just didn’t play well enough that night. We weren’t clicking on all cylinders. You go back and look at the game and there were some explosive plays — we did some good stuff like we normally did. But just from the execution standpoint, a dropped pass here or a missed assignment there — it really was more about that.”

I’m not sure we’ll ever know what really happened that night in Columbia.