Here they are. Not of much of an introduction is needed. These five wins should be ranked in some order as the best five of the Beamer Era on 85% of Gamecock fans' ballots. Parts I and II are here. As always, head over to the Insiders Forum to discuss this list or anything else on your mind.

The Kentucky Wildcats have had a formidable football team under Mark Stoops, I'm surprised a bigger fish in the college football pond hasn't caught Stoops yet. The Wildcats had won seven of the last eight meetings between these two teams. South Carolina hadn't won in Lexington since Connor Shaw was under center handing the ball off to Marcus Lattimore. Mark Stoops was even trolling Shane Beamer in the offseason. (C'mon coach! This was clearly a shot at Beamer and the Gamecocks).

South Carolina had lost its first two SEC games of 2022 and had yet to win a conference game on the road under Beamer, four of the five SEC road losses were by 14 points or more. Kentucky was 4-1 and ranked 13th. They were 4.5 point favorite even without future second round NFL pick Will Levis under center. Levis was injured and did not play in this game. (Had Levis played - this game would have been ranked higher). On the first play from scrimmage, David Spaulding forced a fumble that was picked up Tonka Hemingway and returned to the Wildcat 2-yard-line. South Carolina would score on the next play via a Marshawn Lloyd two-yard run. Lloyd had his best game against SEC competition, carrying 22 times for 110 yards and a score.

The game was tied heading into the locker room. Carolina took the opening drive of the second half and went 75 yards on six plays, capped off by a 42-yard Juice Wells TD reception. Carolina's next drive took up more seven minutes and ended with a field goal. At 17-7, the lead felt safe unless South Carolina gave Kentucky life. They didn't. The Gamecocks would push the lead to 24-7 on a 24-yard Jalen Brooks touchdown run. The Wildcats would manage a score against a prevent defense but the Gamecocks won the game easily 24-14.

You can bet the sunglasses comment wouldn't go unanswered.

Something happened to the 2021 Florida Gators when the calendar flipped from September to October. Florida finished September with a 3-1 record with their only loss being a 2-point defeat to SEC Champion Alabama. The Gators were ranked as high as #11. By the time they rolled into Columbia the first weekend of November, they were 4-4. Despite their recent struggles, Vegas had instilled Dan Mullen's club as a three-score favorite over the Gamecocks despite both teams carrying 4-4 records. Florida had been blown out by rival Georgia the week before, the Gamecocks had two weeks to lick their wounds following a dominating loss in College Station. Carolina was turning the season over to St. Francis transfer signal-caller Jason Brown, who was making his first SEC start against the Gators.

Brown wasn't spectacular, but he was mobile enough to escape the pocket and extend plays. He would finish 14 for 24 passing with 175 yards and two touchdowns. Brown was aided by 2020 SEC rushing leader Kevin Harris' best game of an injury-plagued 2021 season. Harris went for 128 yards on 16 carries. Not to be outdone by his backfield mate,, ZaQaundre White rushed for 111 yards on just 13 carries. All-SEC candidate Josh Vann had seven catches for 111 yards and a score. Parker White had a career-best four field goals and defensive tackle Jabari Ellis had an 18-yard fumble recovery touchdown to put South Carolina up 30-10 at halftime. The Gamecocks cruised in the second half to a surprisingly easy win.

For Coach Shane Beamer the game brought back fond memories. "I remember days and nights like this" when he was here from 2007-2010, Beamer said. "We're not there yet," Beamer cautioned. "We're still a work in progress, but we took a big step tonight."

You can't draw a start up any better than the one the Gamecocks had in their first ever win over Texas A&M. Xavier Leggett took the opening kickoff back 100 yards for a score, losing a cleat in the process. Texas A&M's first possession ended with a 59-yard Darius Rush interception. The Gamecock offense would stall and kick a field goal following the near pick-six. On the next Aggie possession, A&M's center inadvertently snapped the ball into quarterback Haynes King. The ball ricocheted into the arms of Tonka Hemingway. The Gamecocks would capitalize this time on Christian Beal-Smith touchdown run. It was 17-0 after 5:09 of game time.

From that point on, the remainder of the first half was dominated by the Aggies. They had closed the score to 17-14 at the half and received the ball first. Carolina's offensive finally broke through with a scoring driver late in the third quarter after departed tailback Lloyd scored from 18-yards out. A Spencer Rattler fumble would set the Aggies up for a short-field touchdown to again cut the lead to three. The Gamecock defense would hold from that point on. Lloyd put the Gamecocks up two scores with his second touchdown with a little over three minutes remaining. Some uncharacteristic poor play on special teams, allowing A&M to recover an onside kick and a blocked extra point, had the Aggies in position to throw a Hail Mary for the win. Luckily, the Aggie prayers went unanswered, (I wouldn't expect God to do Jimbo many more favors), and the Gamecocks celebrated a first in program history and improved its' record to 5-2.

“A month ago, I was asked if this team quit. That look like this team has quit?" South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said.

Right off the bat, let's correct our friends at the four-letter network, the Tennessee band was barely audible all night let alone while Sandstorm was blaring across Williams-Brice. This was the loudest Columbia crowd since Georgia in 2012. The Gamecocks entered this game against Tennessee having been embarrassed 38-6 the week before in Gainesville. Tennessee's only loss was a hard fought 27-13 loss between the hedges to a team that no one was going to defeat all season. The Volunteers were 22.5-point road favorites, outside of Georgia, no one had slowed them down.

The Tennessee offense had success in this game. They had over 500 yards and scored 38 points, but the Volunteer defense looked lost. Spencer Rattler torched the Vols for 438 yards and six touchdowns. Virtually ever pass Rattler threw all night was right where it needed to be. For one Saturday, he was the best quarterback in college football. Juice Wells was his primary target with 177 receiving yards but Rattler found 11 different receivers and even caught a pass himself. South Carolina would only punt the ball one time and would not attempt a field goal all night. Josh Vann would also catch two touchdowns.

“That was probably the best I've ever felt in a game. I felt unstoppable,” said Rattler, adding he thought it was one of the best wins in college football history. “He was on. You talk about players and being in the zone," coach Shane Beamer said.

The 63 points were the most the Vols have ever allowed in an SEC game, eclipsing the 62-37 loss to Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators in 1995.

It had to be this one. The rival Clemson Tigers had won two National Championships, played for two more, and dominated the Gamecocks during six of their series-tying seven consecutive wins in the Palmetto Bowl. The Tigers also were ridding a 40-game home winning streak dating back to 2016. The Gamecocks had never beaten teams ranked inside the top 10 in two consecutive weeks. Clemson was a two touchdown favorite and led this game by as many as 14 points in the first half.

The final score was 31-30, but the game shouldn't have been that close. South Carolina threw a pick-six, dropped one of their own and was intercepted in the Clemson endzone. Outside of those two aforementioned interceptions, Spencer Rattler was nearly perfect throwing for 360 yards and two touchdowns, despite having no ground support. Carolina only rushed for 55 yards for an average of 1.8 yards a carry. Clemson's vastly overrated secondary, (they are overrated this year well), could not stop Juice Wells. The junior had nine catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

The Tigers played scared on special teams all day. They seldom tried to even return a Gamecock punt due to playing almost a base defense in fear of a Pete Lembo fake punt. The one time they did, freshman wide out Antonio Williams fumbled the football and set the Gamecocks up to run out the clock. Clemson also attempted one of the worst "trick play" kickoff returns in the history of football. Yet still the Tigers had plenty of chances in the fourth quarter to extend their streak to a record eight-straight over the Gamecocks, but the Gamecock defense played their best quarter of football on the season and knocked Tiger QB DJU all the way to Corvallis, Oregon.

“We wanted more. We knew this was the biggest game of the season for us,” said Rattler, who passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns. “These last two games will change the narrative for program history.”

Time will tell if Rattler was correct it certainly feels that way right now.