×ATLANTA — South Carolina couldn’t muster much offense against Virginia Tech’s revitalized defense Sunday afternoon. Outside of two drives, the Gamecocks’ offense was stuck in neutral and failed to do much of anything.

Beamer Ball, of all things, was what did the Hokies in.

Vicari Swain weaved his way through tacklers and scored on an 80-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter. The sudden score was the momentum kicker needed for the 13th-ranked Gamecocks to pull away and secure a 24-11 win over the Hokies in the Aflac Kickoff Game before an announced crowd of 55,531 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Swain’s game-altering play came after the Hokies were called for illegal formation on Nick Veltsistas’ punt that went out of bounds at the South Carolina 26-yard line.

Gamecocks coach Shane Be

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