‘It was a surreal night’ – Former Vols assistant coach gets asked if South Carolina stole Tennessee’s signals in 2022 loss
The Tennessee Volunteers’ loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022 is one of the most painful losses in UT football history.
There aren’t many losses in Tennessee football history that are more painful for Vols fans than the loss to South Carolina in 2022.
Tennessee appeared destined to reach the College Football Playoff after making it to the middle of November with a 9-1 record. All the Vols had to do was beat a scuffling South Carolina team and Vanderbilt and Tennessee was all but certain to reach the playoff.
The South Carolina game, though, did not go the way anyone expected. Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler threw six touchdowns as South Carolina routed the Vols 63-38 and ended Tennessee’s playoff hopes.
It’s a game that’s still talked about often even four years later. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer, in fact, was asked about it last week at SEC Media Days in Tampa.
Did South Carolina have Tennessee’s signals in 2022?
There’s been speculation that South Carolina had Tennessee’s signals that night as a result of the Conor Stalions sign-stealing scandal (we’ll get to the evidence that supports that theory in a minute).
Former Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack joined The Bunch Formation earlier this offseason and he was asked about the loss to South Carolina and whether he thinks the Gamecocks had the Vols’ signals that night.
“I remember going to South Carolina thinking that we just had to do what we’re supposed to do,” said Mack, who served as UT’s running backs coach from 2021 to 2023. “Because at that time, they had been a little bit up and down that season.
“The crowd, that’s what I really remember. I felt the momentum change in that stadium that night. Those fans had white towels. It was 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening and they were waving the towels. It was a real hostile SEC environment. And I was like, ‘Man, if we don’t get it going, this may not go the way we want it to go.’ We were down even when Hendo (Hendon Hooker) got hurt. He ended up getting hurt and the air got taken out of the stadium on our side. Nobody wanted to see that guy get hurt — especially not Vols fans. But [South Carolina] did a really good job. Kudos to Coach (Shane) Beamer and that staff — they did an excellent job. They had a great game plan. They played their tails off. … It was a surreal night to be honest with you. When people talk about the game of momentum, you felt it that night.”
“You know, we did not,” continued 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 a big conspiracy theory guy. I don’t really believe in people stealing signals. That’s really not my deal. I just believe that you go out there and play to the best of your ability and put a great game plan together and you’ve got a chance to win any game.”
Tennessee’s players admitted the week after the loss that they overlooked South Carolina.
The evidence that South Carolina had Tennessee’s signals
Despite Mack’s comments, I’m not completely convinced that South Carolina didn’t have Tennessee’s signals that night.
The theory is that Stalions, a former Michigan analyst, shared Tennessee’s signals with South Carolina to keep the Vols out of the playoff.
Here’s the evidence that supports the theory:
- 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.
- 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 denied the claim last fall during an appearance on the Bunch Formation podcast.
“I’ve never met anyone at South Carolina,” said Stalions. “I’ll also say this about Tennessee — I’d ask Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker. They know the truth. I’m tight with both of them. There was no trying to screw over Tennessee.”
“Let’s just say that if I had everything on a team. Why would I not want to play them in the playoffs?” added Stalions. “If I had everything on Tennessee, which I’ve never watched any Tennessee film to try to decipher signals. I do know they’re up-tempo…..I don’t know much about Tennessee.
“In theory — it could be Tennessee, it could be anyone — if I had the team’s signals and felt confident that it’s this competitive advantage that’s going to cause a margin like in that South Carolina game, why would I want another team to do it rather than us?”
A couple of months before those comments, former Vols quarterback Joe Milton suggested that South Carolina “cheated.”
One reason why Tennessee fans don’t believe Stalions is that he previously admitted he shared signals with Ohio State in 2021, as Michigan needed Michigan State to lose to the Buckeyes.
Another reason is because the theory is that Michigan wanted to keep Tennessee out of a playoff spot to help secure the Wolverines’ spot in the playoff. Michigan was undefeated, and Tennessee had just one loss (to Georgia) at the time. The Wolverines, 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?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The Vols definitely didn’t play well that night, so maybe it would’ve been the same outcome either way. And Georgia was clearly the best team in the nation that season, so the right team won the national championship.
Still, it’s one of the more interesting urban legends in college football in recent years, as evidenced by the fact that the main figures involved keep getting asked about it.