Shane Beamer didn’t need a pep talk this week. Vegas delivered one for him. After wanting to earn respect for his coaching skills, South Carolina skyrocketed in the betting charts as a favorite for rivalry week. Clemson may have smashed Furman 45-10 to secure a Bowl berth, but Beamer stole the headlines, earning a solid endorsement.

The twist everyone on X has been buzzing about finally lands. Chapel Fowler wrote in a post, “South Carolina is a 1.5-point betting favorite vs. Clemson for next Saturday’s rivalry game, per the VegasInsider consensus line (which factors in multiple sportsbooks). Will be USC’s first time being favored vs. Clemson since 2013 (12 years ago).”

After failing to win a single home game in this rivalry during his tenure, Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks open rivalry week as the betting favorite. Clemson is already bowl eligible, but South Carolina isn’t. Yet the odds have turned their way for the first time in 12 years. For Beamer, it’s like the universe is giving him a garnet and black lifeline.

No one expected this in August, not with South Carolina’s season stuttering the way it has and Clemson predicted to be Clemson. It was the approval that Beamer had been desperately seeking. It’s a hint that redemption is still possible despite setbacks and injuries. The Tigers lead the overall rivalry series 73-44-4. South Carolina has won two of the last three matchups, but Clemson has won eight of the previous 10.

Moreover, Steve Spurrier was still using verbal haymakers, and heaping wins on Clemson when South Carolina was favored in this game the last time. That was 12 long years ago, back in 2013. In this rivalry, Beamer has won two thrilling games away from home, but at home? Only resentment.

And now, Beamer arrives at Williams-Brice with a chance to end a long-standing streak that has affected his coaching career, following a challenging year and a fluctuating spread among sports books.

Shane Beamer gets a rare chance to make South Carolina history this week

Notably, Week 12’s goal was to bury South Carolina gradually. With a 27-point lead that disappeared in real time and a historic choke that might have shattered a locker room already damaged from a challenging year, the Texas A&M collapse seemed like a perfect example of a season gone all wrong. Then came a crushing 51-7 victory against Coastal Carolina.

After that, Beamer emerged from the disaster discussing the playoff standings for next year. It seemed more like a coach refusing to let the season define him before rivalry week even began, even though it may have sounded silly to the outside world.

Because it’s officially rivalry week in South Carolina, records and common sense are all thrown to the wind. Together, Clemson and USC are 10–12.

“It’s the state championship,” Dabo Swinney said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 11-0 or 0-11. This game holds a special significance for many people. It’s a forever game. There might be some games along the way, you’ll say, ‘What happened in that game? I don’t really remember’ — you remember this one. Everybody lives with this one; this is one of those games.”

Swinney is right. No one will remember how many red-zone stalling USC had against Kentucky or how Clemson lost a lead in the fourth quarter of September. But they’re going to remember what happens this Saturday. For Beamer, a 1.5-point edge might as well be a blessing from the football gods.

LaNorris Sellers is coming off 356 yards against Coastal Carolina. Clemson has secured its 27th straight bowl bid. All of that somehow adds to the thrill of this clash. Sellers upset Clemson once in Death Valley. Also, USC hasn’t defended its home field in this rivalry since 2013, while the Tigers haven’t won in Columbia since 2018.

It’s messy, basically. For Shane Beamer, this Saturday may be his last and best chance to turn a disastrous season into an unforgettable memory.