Joe Milton claims South Carolina cheated during its upset win over Tennessee during the 2022 college football season. His bold assurance stems from the sign-stealing scandal involving Connor Stalions.
It is the first time a player has issued such a definitive statement about what might’ve happened.
Milton, a second-year quarterback in the NFL, played three years of college football at Tennessee after a three-year stint at Michigan. He arrived to Knoxville in 2021.
Joe Milton replaced Hendon Hooker after Hendon Hooker replaced Joe Milton.
Although Milton ultimately won the starting job during his first year with the Vols, he was relieved by Hendon Hooker after he suffered an injury early on. Hooker won the starting job again next season.
That leads us to November 19, 2022. Hooker suffered a season-ending injury during a road game against the Gamecocks, which thrust Milton right back into the starting job.
South Carolina absolutely destroyed No. 5 Tennessee at home by a final score of 63-38. The loss likely kept the Volunteers out of the College Football Playoff at 10-2 instead of 11-1.
The Gamecocks totaled more than 600 yards of offense in the upset win and held the ball for more than 38 minutes. Spencer Rattler completed 31 of his 38 pass attempts without an interception.
It was almost as if South Carolina’s play-callers knew what their opponent was going to do on defense before the play even happened. And maybe they did!
Tennessee didn’t have an answer.
There is a popular theory amongst the fans in Knoxville about that game. Joe Milton threw gasoline on the fire while responding to Jalen Brooks with his most recent post on Instagram.
He, like the fanbase, thinks there was some shenanigans involved with the win.
Former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions stole signs for the program over the course of multiple years. The NCAA investigation found that he was in attendance when Tennessee played at home against Kentucky on Oct. 24, 2022. Why?
The Volunteers were undefeated at the time with a clear path to the College Football Playoff. As were the Wolverines.
Did South Carolina cheat?
Stalions self-admittedly shared his findings to help Ohio State beat Michigan State in 2021. It is not impossible to think that he did the same with for South Carolina.
Milton’s post on Instagram refers to that idea. He seems to think Stalions watched the Volunteers play the Wildcats to help the Gamecocks decode their signals with hope they would be able to pull off the upset win, which would in turn help the Wolverines.
Hooker was not willing to comment on the theory in 2023 and talked around the question.
Here is what former Tennessee #Vols QB Hendon Hooker had to say when asked if South Carolina had their signs when the teams faced off last year on #OutKick Hot Mic with @HuttonOutkick & @TheChadWithrow. pic.twitter.com/gmdQB7ocql
— Davey Hudson (@Davey_Hudson) November 3, 2023
Nobody else on the team spoke up in support of the cheating accusations since then. Joe Milton is the latest. He truly believes South Carolina ruined Tennessee’s chances at the Playoff on purpose.