In front of a sold-out Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, the Tennessee Volunteers and the Gamecocks of South Carolina met for a late November matchup for the record books. Heading into the game on Saturday night, there was a lot of chatter from both sides about the potential for either program to pick up massive wins heading into rivalry week.

In the Tennessee camp, folks thought the Volunteers would have to show up at Williams Brice Stadium, and they would automatically have an easy win over Coach Beamer and his South Carolina Gamecocks. However, Coach Beamer didn’t care about the hype surrounding Tennessee. He called his shot on Finebaum on Friday, and his Gamecocks were ready for war and delivered his most memorable win as the Head Coach of South Carolina.

Tennessee put together an impressive drive to close out the first half, trailing South Carolina 35-24.

Tennessee opened the half by stopping the Gamecocks on their opening possession forcing South Carolina to punt the ball away to the Volunteers. From there, Tennessee took over and went six plays for a 72-yard drive for a touchdown. That Gamecock lead was diminished to 35-31 early in the third. South Carolina responded in the following possession and went down the field for a Gamecocks touchdown to make it 42-31 South Carolina.

South Carolina held Tennessee to a punt, and Williams Brice Stadium was rocking! South Carolina took advantage of the momentum and put the nail in the Tennessee coffin to provide Gamecock Nation with the biggest win since 2010 when South Carolina defeated Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. At the end of the third, it was 42-31 Gamecocks, with South Carolina in the red zone again. South Carolina capped off the drive with another touchdown of their own to extend the Gamecocks’ lead to 49-31.

Tennessee fumbled and lost Hendon Hooker to a non-contact knee injury. South Carolina recovered the Hendon Hooker fumble to set up a South Carolina red zone trip that ended with another Gamecocks touchdown to give South Carolina a 56-31 lead with 9:26 to play in the game.

South Carolina added one more touchdown to finish the Volunteers by a score of 63-38.

With the win over Tennessee, South Carolina ends the Volunteers’ dreams of playing in the College Football Playoffs for another season. Tennessee had no answer for South Carolina tonight. South Carolina was simply the better team tonight. Spencer Rattler had a career night, Williams Brice was insane, and Gamecocks stunned the Volunteers. There’s a lot to be excited about if you’re a South Carolina Gamecock because Beamer Ball is only beginning. South Carolina will travel to Clemson on Saturday to take on the Tigers in a battle for the Palmetto State.

For Tennessee, as much as the loss to South Carolina sucks, losing Hendon Hooker will be the unfortunate storyline to keep an eye on as the Volunteers prepare to take on Vanderbilt next Saturday. Sure, dreams of College Football Playoffs might be over for the Volunteers with the loss to South Carolina, but a bid to a New Year Six Bowl is still in play. Take care of business at Vanderbilt, and a trip to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl is likely to be on the docket for the Vol Nation.