COLUMBIA — When Shane Beamer walked out of the press conference in Gainesville, Florida, two weeks ago, the season could've gone one of two ways.

It could be like last year for South Carolina football, where the first SEC win of the season came right before an open date but ultimately didn't lead to anymore conference victories.

Or it could be like 2024, when his Gamecocks started 3-3, beat a team on the road, had an open date then beat the No. 11 team in the country at home.

After beating Florida to get to 3-3, South Carolina returned two weeks later and beat No. 11 Tennessee 27-24 on Oct. 24. Beamer fielded questions in his post-game on-field interview while fans stormed in around him, just like they did two years ago when they beat then No. 11 Texas A&M.

"I don't know where to start, what a win," Beamer said. "That's a heck of a team we just beat. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter war ... proud of the resiliency of our group."

Shane Beamer, South Carolina flips script after ugly start to 2026

South Carolina blew a 16-point lead and lost 41-34 to Mississippi State in Week 3. Two weeks later, the Gamecocks blew a 17-point lead to Kentucky, losing 35-34 in overtime.

When the Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 SEC) lost a 14-0 first-quarter lead against the Vols (6-2, 4-2) it looked like that type of history was going to repeat itself.

And for a program that only won four games last year, Beamer needed things to turn around quickly in his sixth season. A loss vs the Vols would've been the ninth time since 2022 that Beamer's lost a game after leading by double-digits.

"I think you just go back to the men in that locker room, I know it's cliche but we got some special men in that locker room," Beamer said. "I told you guys before the season, all summer, last winter, I like this team because it's an older group and you saw that tonight, just the leadership."

Beamer kept promising his team would be judged on its ability to "respond" after losses, but it wasn't until the Florida game that the Gamecocks showed that. But even in that win, it was so one-sided that it didn't necessarily give a clear picture of what the rest of the SEC schedule would hold.

The ugly, messy and mistake-filled performance against Tennessee was a bit more accurate, giving more weight to Beamer's praise when talking about his team's resiliency.

"I just see a team that continues to get better, I really do," Beamer said.

How South Carolina had just enough to beat Tennessee

After the hot start, South Carolina couldn't do much after the Vols responded, producing only 70 total yards of offense and zero points from the start of the third quarter until late in the fourth.

During that same period, Tennessee had two touchdowns negated by penalties and still had the lead.

Until the game-tying and game-winning drives, the Gamecocks' offense only went 20 yards in the fourth quarter.

"We just kept fighting," quarterback LaNorris Sellers said. "It wasn't pretty by any means ... We had a lot of opportunities, probably could have scored more, we missed them, I missed but we found a way."

South Carolina went from losing the same way to showing it can win in at least two different ways: nearly perfect and dominate vs. Florida, then persevere to beat a physical Vols team.

Ahead of the trip to Norman for a Halloween game against Oklahoma (4-3, 2-1) on Oct. 31 (4:15 pm ET, SEC Network), things look more like the second-half turnaround in 2024 than the season-long crumble in 2025.

"This is a rugged, workman-like group," Beamer said. "We'll celebrate the heck out of this one tonight and then we'll come right back to work tomorrow."