Reflections on USC's biggest win...ever?

Going to the University of South Carolina can be a little frustrating when your entire existence doesn't revolve around the young men who don the garnet and black every week in the fall. While it's common for college football to be the only acceptable topic of conversation in many towns throughout the Southeast, you can look far and wide without finding a place where mediocrity is so celebrated as Columbia.

Because for all the hoopla that surrounds the Gamecocks, any honest fan knows that South Carolina football is, frankly, unworthy of the acronym it shares with Southern Cal. Having played since 1892, the Cocks have struggled to a .499 record (remember, that includes PLENTY of games against Wofford, Furman and SC State), including 4-10 in bowls, just one conference title (ACC, 1969), and most shameful of all, a 28 game deficit in the Clemson rivalry.

Yet for all the dissapointment that has marked Gamecock football over the years, you can't question the loyalty and enthusiasm of the fans. Every year, Columbia buzzes with anticipation over the upcoming season. Will this be the year that Spurrier's offense returns to the level of his halcyon days at Florida? Will the freshmen live up to their national reputation? Will Steven Garcia break the single-season SEC arrests record?

And each and every week, thousands upon thousands descend on the State Fairgrounds in south Columbia to watch the Gamecocks take on another opponent, dodging trains as they move from tailgate to tailgate in anticipation of the glory that they hope is shortly to come. Most times, it doesn't. But last night, glory finally arrived.

I was mostly looking forward to this game because of the fact that it gave my buddy Padrick, Ole Miss Law Class of '10, a chance to visit. But insane traffic, our inability to find his group, and the generally dirty conditions of the industrial area surrounding Williams-Brice Stadium made the tailgating, shall we say, less than Grove-like. When we finally reached the 29th row of the upper deck overlooking the South End Zone, the humidity, terrible view, and my pained feet had me a little rattled:


At least from our vantage, the game wasn't all that exciting. Neither offense seemed to be able to put together anything worth writing home about as pass after pass was dropped. Most frustrating of all was USC's red-zone incompetence, as the Cocks got inside the Ole Miss 10 THREE TIMES without managing to put the ball in the end zone, before Garcia tossed the ball to Patrick DiMarco for a 2 yard score midway through the 3rd. That made the score 16-3 and all of a sudden it became apparent that USC could win this game, contrary to my doomsday prophecies of the preseason ("3-9!"). The incomprehensible nonsense that is "Hotty Totty" was no longer assaulting my ears. Padrick was becoming frustrated. And for probably the first time I felt a hint of school pride in my 8th choice law school.

But the Rebels had some fight left in them. Just after the 10:00 remaining mark, NFL prospect QB Jevan Snead threw a gorgeous pass to Markieth Summers, who simply took off in what was the easiest-looking play of the evening. And just like that, the momentum seemed to shift back. Other than the 1 scoring drive, USC's offense was even worse in the 2nd half than the first. If they couldn't kill the clock, the door would be wide open for Ole Miss to walk right through for the victory.

And indeed it seemed like Snead was prepared to do just that. Dexter McCluster had 11 carries for 68 yards in the 4th quarter alone. The Rebels held the ball with 4 minutes to go and a TD would all but seal the deal. But somehow, someway, the Carolina defense showed that it is a unit that can hang with the best in the NCAA in 2009. On 2nd-and-10 at the Carolina 40, Darien Stewart tackled McCluster for a 4 yards loss. Already at airport levels, the noise in Williams-Brice increased exponentially at this point. On 3rd-and-14, Snead dropped back to pass, but was sacked by Cliff Matthews.

With the game on the line, Ole Miss took a much-needed timeout, which was of course extended for the benefit of ESPN2. At this point whoever runs the music made the wise decision to blast "Sandstorm," that classic of techno by Da-Rude (and if you think I'm not listening to it right now, you're crazy). The student section went ballistic, and the sight of them bouncing up and down in unison, while yellow-jacketed security guards formed a human chain in order to keep the undergrads off the field, was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen in person. It really did give me chills.

After the timeout, the stadium exploded in noise in anticipation of 4th down. Perhaps as a result, the Rebels committed an illegal substitution and gave themselves another 5 yards. 4th-and-19, Snead dropping back to pass and looking for Shay Hodge...pass broken up by Stewart! The crowd goes ballistic. As Carolina took over on downs with just over a minute to play, I recall thinking even Garcia can't screw up a victory formation.

We had just seen, arguably, the biggest win in Williams-Brice history (excluding all Clemson games and Eastern State's victory over Georgia Tech in The Program). Never before had Carolina had a win at home over a top-5 team. Never. In 117 years of playing football. Later, as I watched law students dancing (badly) to Don't Stop Till You Get Enough in Five Points, I realized that, for last night at least, it was a Great Day to be a Gamecock.