Dylan Stewart knows he shouldn’t have done it.
South Carolina trailed No. 12 Ole Miss by multiple scores late in the third quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. Stewart sacked quarterback Jaxson Dart on third-and-6. It would’ve been a drive-ending play but instead became a national story over the weekend because of what Stewart did next.
He stood over Dart and pretended to shoot him — approximately five times — with an imaginary shotgun. It was an uncouth celebration that resulted in a taunting penalty and 15-yard gain for Ole Miss. This revived the possession, allowing Ole Miss to score a field goal and extend its lead to 27-3 (which would be the final score).
“A clearly unintelligent play by Stewart,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch said on the broadcast.
“That’s a true freshman making a freshman mistake,” ESPN analyst Dusty Dvoracek added. “You can’t get over the quarterback and taunt him.”
“He did more than taunt,” Pasch said.
Stewart tackled Ole Miss running back Matt Jones for a loss of 4 yards minutes later then shot his fake gun again. This time he fired three of shots with much less enthusiasm and not toward an opponent.
After the game, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer was asked if he’d spoken with Stewart about his controversial celebration. He gave a one-word answer: “Yes.” Beamer provided more details Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
“ Dylan Stewart feels awful about that play,” Beamer said after calling the celebration “unacceptable.” “Dylan Stewart’s a really good kid.”
“I know all the social media angels that have never done anything wrong want me to just tar and feather him out there in the middle of Five Points for his mistake. Doesn’t quite work that way. ... We also care about Dylan. We love Dylan. And we’ve got Dylan’s back, too.”
Beamer said Stewart was punished for his mistake and held accountable inside the Long Family Football Operations Center, though Beamer did not specify what repercussions Stewart faced. The head coach added that Stewart succumbed to his emotions late in the game after “s ome back and forth that started in the first quarter.” Beamer and his coaching staff have tried to educate Stewart while also giving him grace.
“H e’s a(n) 18-year-old young man,” Beamer said. “And he’s ours. And it’s our job to help him, just like a parent would do with a child when a child makes a mistake.”
Stewart was not the first player to celebrate a big play by miming gun shots this season. LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty and went viral for pretending to shoot a gun at Southern Cal’s defense after scoring a touchdown in the Tigers’ first game of the season. A few hours after Stewart’s actions, Minnesota defensive back Justin Walley received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the Gophers’ win over No. 11 USC after he lifted up his jersey to allegedly simulate holding a gun in his waistband.
Some, including this USA Today writer , have called the NFL and NCAA’s crackdown on “finger gun” celebrations “performative.” CBS reported on Monday that college football coaches across the nation, particularly in the SEC and Big Ten, have been warned “that gun-related celebrations were a major no-no and would result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.”
Beamer finished speaking on Stewart by adding that he’d talked with the entire team about the “right way” for players to conduct themselves on the field. He also said, generally speaking, if that type of behavior were to become a pattern, then decisions would have to be made.
Overall, though, Beamer said, “We feel good about how we’ve handled that situation.”
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