South Carolina’s Shane Beamer is still talking about ‘hanging 63’ on Tennessee in game where stolen signs may have been utilized

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is still talking about that big win against the Tennessee Vols in 2022.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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While every teenager and pre-teen on the planet is mindlessly shouting six-seven, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is talking about six-three.

As in the 63 points the Gamecocks hung on Tennessee in 2022.

Yep, three years later and Beamer is still referencing what’s arguably the most disappointing loss for the Volunteers since losing to LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship game.

Beamer mentioned the Gamecocks’ 2022 win over the Volunteers on Tuesday after being asked about his past offensive coordinator hires, including Marcus Satterfield, who served as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022 before taking the same job at Nebraska in 2023.

“Sat (Marcus Satterfield) spent time in the NFL, but he was a college guy,” said Beamer. “People can say what they want about him. He won seven games as the offensive coordinator our first season [while] starting four different quarterbacks. And then the next season, he hung 63 on Tennessee at the end of the season — and scored more points against Clemson than any offensive coordinator has here since I’ve been the head coach.

“And he didn’t get fired. A coach (Matt Rhule) that he worked for previously at Western Carolina, Temple, and the Carolina Panthers got the head coaching job at Nebraska. And his very first call was to [Satterfield] to go be the offensive coordinator.”

Satterfield is still on staff at Nebraska, but he was demoted to tight ends coach late last season.

Did South Carolina have Tennessee’s signals in 2022?

South Carolina’s best offensive game in 2022 came in the 63-38 win against Tennessee (the Gamecocks scored more points against the Vols in 2022 than they did against Georgia State, South Carolina State, or Charlotte).

The loss essentially eliminated the Vols from the four team College Football Playoff.

Many Vols fans believe to this day that South Carolina had Tennessee’s signals (offensive and defensive) thanks to the Connor Stalions sign stealing scandal.

Former Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton, who finished the game against South Carolina in 2022 after Hendon Hooker tore his ACL, is among those who believe South Carolina “cheated” against the Vols.

Tennessee Vols

Here’s a quick rundown of the evidence that South Carolina may have had Tennessee’s signals in 2022.

  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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 he shares information with other programs/coaches about opponents. 
  • Stalions admitted last year that he shared signals with Ohio State in 2021 because Michigan needed Michigan State to lose to the Buckeyes. The theory for the 2022 Vols/Gamecocks game is that Michigan wanted to keep Tennessee out of a playoff spot to help secure its spot in the playoff. Michigan was undefeated, and Tennessee had just one loss (to Georgia) at the time. Michigan, however, still had to play Ohio State (which the Wolverines ended up winning). Tennessee’s loss to the Gamecocks was insurance for Michigan. If Stalions did that to Michigan State in 2021, why would he not do the same to Tennessee in 2022.

We may never know the full truth about whether South Carolina had Tennessee’s signals. But as long as Beamer keeps referencing “hanging 63 on Tennessee,” Vols fans will continue to bring up the theory that South Carolina had UT’s signals that night in Columbia.

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