Shane Beamer had been under fire for weeks, and South Carolina’s eight-game SEC losing streak only fueled calls for his firing. But the Gamecocks finally gave their critics something else to talk about, stunning No. 16 Florida with a 38-19 victory in Gainesville. It was their first win in the Swamp since 2014, and Beamer wasn’t about to let the opportunity to fire back at his critics slip away.

“I think our play and our response this week speak for themselves,” Beamer said. “I’m really happy for every player in our program, every person associated with our program. That is a program win. For all the negativity out there this week, that is a program win.”

South Carolina’s loss to Kentucky was nothing short of embarrassing. The Gamecocks blew a 17-0 lead and eventually fell 35-34 in overtime after allowing the Wildcats to convert a game-winning two-point attempt. It was their eighth consecutive SEC loss, and the boos directed at Shane Beamer were hardly surprising. South Carolina had also blown a 16-0 lead against Mississippi State just two weeks earlier. But against No. 16 Florida, the Gamecocks finally stopped repeating the same mistakes.

After failing to score a single third-quarter point in their previous three SEC games, they outscored Florida 14-3 in that period, protected their lead, and forced three turnovers.

But South Carolina’s losing streak wasn’t Beamer’s only headache.

Star defensive end Dylan Stewart had also dragged the program into controversy after throwing a punch at Alabama tight end Josh Ford during the Gamecocks’ humiliating 49-18 defeat on September 26.

The SEC slapped Stewart with a one-game suspension, while Beamer suspended him indefinitely, keeping him out of the Kentucky game. And Stewart wasn’t getting a free pass back onto the roster. He had to earn his teammates’ trust, with athletic director Jeremiah Donati revealing that the players had to approve his return before Beamer would even consider reinstating him.

“We got to remind ourselves they are 18-23 year old kids. They do make mistakes. Sometimes the emotions get the better of them. We are teachers and coaches. We got to help them develop and help them grow. Dylan came a long way in a week.

He wasn’t going to be back on the team until the team blessed that. It needed to be blessed by the players before Shane was going to endorse it and welcome him back. He did all the right things. He was genuine in his apology to the team. I spent a little time with him this morning and he got that focus. He got that look in his eyes with something to prove,” Donati said, according to The State’s Lou Bezjak.

And Stewart backed up those words on the field. Returning against No. 16 Florida, he forced two fumbles, recorded five tackles, and picked up his first sack of the season. It was quite the turnaround for a player whose disciplinary issues had become another problem for Beamer just a week earlier.

But Stewart wasn’t the only one making a statement. LaNorris Sellers finally delivered the performance South Carolina had been waiting for after weeks of inconsistent play. The quarterback completed 23 of 35 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, adding another score on the ground. Nyck Harbor, Mazeo Bennett Jr., Donovan Murph, and Lex Cyrus each caught a touchdown as the Gamecocks took advantage of Florida’s struggling secondary.

And Stewart’s impact wasn’t lost on his teammates. “Having Stew back definitely made an impact,” Vicari Swain said. “He’s a young kid, so he’s going to make mistakes. I’m sure what he said was heartfelt to us. It played a big difference in the ‘W’ today.”

For Beamer, the victory offered more than relief from an ugly losing streak. His quarterback had finally delivered, his defense had stepped up, and a player whose suspension had added to the program’s troubles was now contributing to its biggest win of the season. That doesn’t erase South Carolina’s earlier failures, but it gives Beamer a much stronger response to the criticism than anything he could have said at a press conference.