South Carolina fined $500K for Tennessee field storm
TLDR: The SEC fined South Carolina $500,000 after fans stormed Williams-Brice Stadium following the 27-24 upset of No. 11 Tennessee, and Shane Beamer says Vicari Swain's retaliation cannot happen again.
Beamer got on his Sunday teleconference and started with the football before anyone could ask him about the check.
Shane Beamer on his teleconference: "Gritty," "physical" are buzzwords about the Tennessee game. Proud of the team for responding and playing strongly in the second half. Really good shape with injuries coming out of the game.
He has reason to be happy. The Gamecocks beat a top-15 Tennessee team 27-24 at home, and then the student section did what student sections do. The SEC no longer scales this penalty. Under Greg Sankey, every field storm costs a flat $500,000, and in a conference game the money goes to the visiting school, not the league's postgraduate scholarship fund. So South Carolina is cutting a check to Knoxville.
The funny part is that Tennessee was on the paying end a week ago, after Vols fans stormed Neyland following the win over Alabama. One week later the money is coming back.
Tennesee about to get the $500k back it owed Alabama after the field rush a week ago
The storm got ugly too. Video from the field appears to show Tennessee linebacker Jeremiah Telander throwing a punch at a South Carolina player, and defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs appears to shove a fan to the ground. That fan was reportedly running off with Tennessee equipment. This is the exact fan-on-player mess the SEC's policy is built to prevent. Beamer was out there in it, and he said he couldn't even get to Josh Heupel for the handshake.
Beamer: "Intense" being inside the field-storming. Was trying to shake Heupel's hands but neither coach was able to get to the other. Then, "How do we get out of here?" But it was awesome.
He didn't apologize for the moment, either. He nodded to the league's safety concerns, then said his job is to coach a team good enough to earn a finish like that. In other words, the SEC can send the bill, and he'll take the walk-off.
Beamer: SEC has a policy, concerned about safety for both teams. But his job is just to coach a team and earn that kind of moment at the end. (Response to the field-storming and the fans-UT players interactions)
The part Beamer did take seriously was Swain. The cornerback and record-setting punt returner had a rough night: 3 first-half penalties, including a personal foul after he got into it with a Vols player that set up a Tennessee touchdown. Then came a targeting ejection for a helmet-to-helmet hit on receiver Mike Matthews with 1:42 left in the half, right after South Carolina had gone up 17-14. Tennessee scored a little more than a minute later to go up 21-17.
Beamer: Talked with Vicari Swain and got to "play for us." Just cannot have some of the retaliation stuff. Play the technique, stay focused. He's played a lot of good football but stuff like last night just cannot happen.
That's a coach publicly drawing a line with one of his best players. Swain has 5 career punt return touchdowns, a school record, and South Carolina needs him on the field, not watching from the locker room because of a flag he chose to draw. Beamer says the team came out of the game healthy. The next thing to watch is whether Swain plays clean the next time someone gets in his face. The fine is paid either way, and Tennessee is $500,000 closer to breaking even on field storms.
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