South Carolina suspends DE Dylan Stewart after he was flagged for throwing a punch at an Alabama player in Gamecocks' loss

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South Carolina star edge rusher Dylan Stewart has been suspended indefinitely.

Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer told reporters Sunday that Stewart would not play against Kentucky in Week 5. Stewart threw a punch at Alabama tight end Josh Ford during the Gamecocks' 49-18 loss to Alabama on Saturday and was also flagged multiple times.

In his postgame news conference, Beamer was unhappy with Stewart's "unacceptable" penalty when he was called for throwing the punch at Ford after Alabama scored a TD.

Stewart was also unhappy that he was being subbed out of the game at one point and had a heated discussion with South Carolina's coaching staff before relenting and leaving the field.

Stewart entered the season as a potential top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft and he was slotted as the preseason No. 4 prospect by Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice. He had 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 2025 after he had 6.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss as a freshman.

Saturday's game was just the second of the season for Stewart after he missed the first two games of 2026 while recovering from a back injury that plagued him at times in 2025. In addition to being flagged for punching Ford — who was wearing his helmet — Stewart was also called for roughing the passer during the game.

"I saw the play that he got the penalty on — I didn't see it until just now and that's unacceptable," Beamer said of the punch. "That's not how we do things around here and I'm embarrassed to see that. Because that's not what we're about."

He later said that he enjoyed seeing passion from Stewart and others on the team, but that it needed to be managed in a different way.

"We've got a lot of fiery, emotional, competitive guys and I love that," Beamer said. "When you're in the arena, the emotions are high, so I love the way that he plays, but we've got to make sure, not just Dylan, but with all of our players, that we make sure it's not affecting us in a negative way."

Ford had a one-handed TD catch in the rout and was asked after the game about what happened with Stewart.

"Man, he's a great player. We had a lot of fun today. I think he punched me three times, but it was awesome," Ford said with a smile. "It was a good battle."

The loss dropped South Carolina to 2-2 and 0-2 in SEC play after a loss to Mississippi State in Week 3. After Kentucky, the Gamecocks play at Florida before a bye in Week 7.

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