COLUMBIA - South Carolina's Stephen Garcia wasn't going to be stopped Saturday night, not by Tennessee or an ex-linebacker turned Southeastern Conference official.

Garcia threw a pair of touchdown passes and helped the Gamecocks pile on to the problems for the struggling Vols and embattled coach Phillip Fulmer with a 27-6 victory.

"It's a good feeling to finally beat those guys," Garcia said.

And Garcia also felt good not getting his bell rung by umpire Wilbur Hackett Jr., who became an Internet sensation for his forearm-first hit on South Carolina's freshman against LSU two weeks ago.

Garcia spoke to Hackett between plays. "We were laughing about the whole situation," Garcia said.

Garcia apologized to Hackett, a former linebacker for Kentucky, for "all that crazy stuff that happened. He said, 'Yeah, it's over now.' So we're cool about it."

Less certain is Fulmer's position after the Vols (3-6) at 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference were guaranteed their second losing league mark in the past four seasons.

Fulmer said Tennessee's players were disappointed with their fourth loss in the past five games and told them to keep their heads up.

Still, Fulmer said he's the man for the job despite the poor season. When the Vols disappoint, they typically bounce back the next year.

"I certainly feel like in time, we'll be back on track, " he said.

The victory was just the fourth over the Vols for the Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3).

A big reason was the heady play of Garcia, who passed for 139 yards, and his two scoring throws before a third-quarter knee injury sent him to the sideline.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier didn't find much good in his team's production.

"Our biggest problem is blocking and running and throwing and catching on offense," he said.