| South Carolina Gamecocks football under Steve Spurrier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Athletic director | Eric Hyman (2005–2012) Ray Tanner (2012–2015) |
| Head coach | Steve Spurrier 11 season, 86–49 (.637) |
| Stadium | Williams–Brice Stadium |
| Conference | Southeastern Conference |
| Division | Eastern Division |
| Bowl record | 5–4 (.556) |
| Division titles | 1 |
South Carolina Gamecocks football under Steve Spurrier covers the history of the South Carolina Gamecocks football program under Steve Spurrier from 2005 to 2015.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2019) |
Former Washington Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier, who achieved fame after a very successful stint as head coach at his alma mater Florida, was hired in 2005 to replace the retiring Lou Holtz. [1] [2]
Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 7–5 record and Independence Bowl appearance in his first season. [3] As a result, Spurrier was named the 2005 SEC Coach of the Year. [3]
The 2006 season saw continued success under Spurrier, as the Gamecocks posted an 8–5 record and a victory over Houston in the Liberty Bowl.
In 2007, the Gamecocks started the season 6–1, but would lose all of their next five games. [4] The team was bowl eligible at 6–6 but was not selected for a bowl game. [3]
South Carolina posted consecutive 7–6 records in 2008 and 2009, returning to postseason play with appearances in the Outback Bowl and PapaJohns.com Bowl. [3]
In 2010, Spurrier scored another first with the first SEC Eastern Division Championship in school history. [5] On November 13, 2010, the Gamecocks defeated Florida 36–14 to clinch the division. [5] Prior to this contest, USC had an all-time record of 0–12 at The Swamp. [5] Freshman RB Marcus Lattimore rushed for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns in the game. [5] Spurrier got his first win in Gainesville as a Gamecock, received a "Gatorade Bath" from his players, and became the first coach to win the SEC East with two different teams. [5] Earlier in the season, the Gamecocks posted the program's first win over a No. 1 team in program history, with a 35–21 victory over top-ranked, defending national champion Alabama. [6]
In 2011, Spurrier led USC to its most successful season in program history. [7] The Gamecocks posted an 11–2 overall record, went 6–2 in SEC play, [3] and defeated No. 20 Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl [8] to earn Final Top 10 rankings in the AP and Coaches' Polls (No. 9 and No. 8, respectively). Along the way, USC defeated Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and Clemson in the same season for the first time in program history.
The University of South Carolina was investigated in 2011–12 by the NCAA after it came to light that student-athletes (including some football players) had received an estimated $59,000 in impermissible benefits, mainly the result of discounted living expenses at a local hotel. [9] The school imposed its own punishment, paying $18,500 in fines and cutting three football scholarships in each of the 2013 and 2014 seasons. [10] The school also reduced its official visits for the 2012–13 year, from 56 to 30. The NCAA ruled this self-imposed punishment as adequate, stating that "the violations were limited in scope" and "there was no unethical conduct in this case", and went on to praise the school's handling of the affair, with the chairman of the NCAA infractions committee stating, "This has been one of the best cases I have seen from a process standpoint. . . . In this case, it was obvious to the committee that the university wanted to get to the truth." The commissioner went on to state that USC "wanted to ask all the hard questions of all the right people and, in some cases, they even went beyond what the NCAA staff was doing." [11]
In 2012 Steve Spurrier, once again, led his South Carolina football team to double-digit wins during the course of the regular season campaign. [3] The 2012 regular season culminated with the annual season-ending game against arch-rival Clemson at Clemson's Memorial Stadium. [12] [13] Spurrier and his Gamecocks emerged with a fourth consecutive victory over the Tigers – a victory marked by Spurrier winning his 65th game at Carolina and, in doing so, becoming the winningest coach in Gamecock football history surpassing Rex Enright's 64-win total. [14] Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a thrilling 33–28 victory in the Outback Bowl against the winningest program in college football, Michigan. [15] The victory elevated the Gamecocks to an 11–2 record for the second consecutive season. [16] Additionally, by finishing 8th in the Associated Press poll and 7th in the Coaches poll, South Carolina finished in Top 10 of both polls for the second consecutive year. [17]
In 2013, Spurrier and the Gamecocks finished with another extremely successful 11–2 season. [18] The season started off with a convincing 27–10 win over North Carolina, [19] although they fell to Georgia for the first time in four years, 41–30. [20] Carolina went on a four-game winning streak before falling to Tennessee in Knoxville after starting quarterback Connor Shaw left the game with a knee injury. [21] In the following game against division-leading #5 Missouri, Shaw was sidelined due to injury, and backup Dylan Thompson got the start. [22] After a weak performance from the Gamecocks in the first three quarters, Shaw was put in the game in the fourth quarter with South Carolina down 0–17. Shaw went on to lead a historic comeback in which the Gamecocks beat Missouri in double overtime, 27–24. [23] That game was the first of a six-game winning streak in which Spurrier and Carolina won the rest of their games, posting another 11–2 season. [24] In the highest-ranked meeting of rivals, the #9 Gamecocks defeated #4 Clemson for the fifth year in a row, a school record, by a score of 31–17. [25] Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 34–22 victory over the #19 Wisconsin in the 2014 Capital One Bowl. [26] [27] South Carolina finished with the highest ranking in school history in the AP poll, ranked at #4 in the country. [26]
South Carolina opened the 2014 season at home against Texas A&M, and the Aggies' 52–28 upset over the #9 Gamecocks snapped college football's longest active home winning streak. [28] Carolina earned a measure of redemption two weeks later, knocking off the #6 Georgia Bulldogs at home. [29] Two weeks later, the 13th-ranked Gamecocks would again suffer a home upset, falling to Missouri, 21–20. [30] This loss dropped USC out of the top 25 for the first time since the 2010 season. [31] [32] The Gamecocks closed out the regular season with their first loss in six years to their in-state rival, #21 Clemson, 35–17. [33] Spurrier and his team finished the 2014 campaign with the program's fourth-straight bowl win, a victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the 2014 Independence Bowl and a 7–6 overall record. [34]
On October 12, 2015, after a 2–4 start to the season, Spurrier announced to his team that he would be resigning, effective immediately. [35] Offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott was named the team's interim head coach. [36] Elliott led the Gamecocks to victory the following week against Vanderbilt but lost the final five games of the season; [37] including a 23–22 loss to FCS opponent The Citadel, their first since 1990, [38] and ended the season with a 3–9 overall record. [39] Many of South Carolina's most successful seasons came during the Steve Spurrier era, including a SEC East Division championship in 2010 and three consecutive eleven win seasons (2011–13). [40] Spurrier also boasted a 6–4 record against the school's in-state rival, Clemson, including five consecutive wins during the 2009–2013 seasons. [41]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | South Carolina | 7–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Eastern) | L Independence | ||||
| 2006 | South Carolina | 8–5 | 3–5 | 5th (Eastern) | W Liberty | ||||
| 2007 | South Carolina | 6–6 | 3–5 | T–4th (Eastern) | |||||
| 2008 | South Carolina | 7–6 | 4–4 | T–3rd (Eastern) | L Outback | ||||
| 2009 | South Carolina | 7–6 | 3–5 | T–4th (Eastern) | L PapaJohns.com | ||||
| 2010 | South Carolina | 9–5 | 5–3 | 1st (Eastern) | L Chick-fil-A | 22 | 22 | ||
| 2011 | South Carolina | 11–2 | 6–2 | 2nd (Eastern) | W Capital One | 8 | 9 | ||
| 2012 | South Carolina | 11–2 | 6–2 | 3rd (Eastern) | W Outback | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2013 | South Carolina | 11–2 | 6–2 | 2nd (Eastern) | W Capital One | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2014 | South Carolina | 7–6 | 3–5 | T–4th (Eastern) | W Independence | ||||
| 2015 | South Carolina | 2–4 | 0–4 | [note 1] | |||||
| South Carolina: | 86–49 | 44–40 | |||||||
| Total: | |||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nickname, "the Head Ball Coach". He played college football as a quarterback for the Florida Gators, where he won the 1966 Heisman Trophy. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft, and he spent a decade playing in the National Football League (NFL), mainly as a backup quarterback and punter. Spurrier was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.
The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Wildcats play their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky and are led by head coach Mark Stoops.
The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach is Shane Beamer. They play their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.
The 2009 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Steve Spurrier, who was in his fifth season at USC. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. Carolina finished the season 7–6, winning the Palmetto Bowl over in-state rival Clemson 34–17 in their final regular season game, before losing in the PapaJohns.com Bowl 20–7 against Connecticut.
The 2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks were led by Steve Spurrier in his second season as USC head coach and played their home games in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) of the Big East Conference, on January 2, 2010, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The game was the final contest of the 2009 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams, and it ended in a 20–7 victory for Connecticut.
The 2010 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Steve Spurrier, who was in his sixth season at USC. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and were members of the East Division of the Southeastern Conference. The Gamecocks finished the season 9–5, 5–3 in SEC play to win the East Division for the first and only time in program history. They earned their first appearance in the SEC Championship where they were defeated by Auburn 17–56. They were invited to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, where they were defeated by Florida State 17–26.
Marcus Lattimore is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, where he holds the career record for rushing touchdowns (38). He rushed for 1,197 yards as a starter during his freshman year, earning All-American honors. His sophomore and junior years were truncated by severe knee injuries. He opted to forgo his senior year and was selected by San Francisco in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft. He never played a game for the 49ers and retired from playing football at the age of 23. In 2016, he was named head football coach at Heathwood Hall prep school in Columbia, South Carolina. He served as the Director of Player Development for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2018 to 2019.
Shane Beamer is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He is the son of former Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer.
The 2012 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks were led by eighth-year head coach Steve Spurrier and played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of the Southeastern Conference. The season finished with 11–2, 6–2 in SEC to finish in third place in the East Division. They climbed as high as No. 3 in the AP Poll – this was their highest ranking since 1984, and it has not been matched since then. They were invited to the Outback Bowl, where the Gamecocks defeated Michigan 33–28 by a game-winning TD with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
The Georgia–South Carolina football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks. The rivalry started in 1894, and has been played annually since the Gamecocks joined the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1992, although as a result of SEC expansion, it will cease to be an annual matchup in 2024. Georgia leads the series 55–19–2 through the 2023 season.
The 2013 Outback Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 1, 2013, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA bowl season. It was the 27th edition of the Outback Bowl, named after sponsor Outback Steakhouse, and was telecast at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. It featured the South Carolina Gamecocks from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) versus the Michigan Wolverines from the Big Ten Conference. South Carolina won with a final score of 33–28.
The 2014 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. The team was led by head coach Steve Spurrier, in his tenth year, and played its home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division. They were invited to the Independence Bowl where they defeated Miami (FL).
The Florida–Kentucky rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The rivalry between these schools, both founding members of the Southeastern Conference, has existed since before the conference's founding. Both teams are historic basketball rivals, both winning multiple national championships and conference championships over the past 100 years. In recent years, the football rivalry between Kentucky and Florida has escalated due to Kentucky breaking a streak of 31 consecutive years where the Florida Gators had beaten them. Despite the lopsidedness of the football series, Kentucky has won four of the last six appearances between the two.
The 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. The team was led by head coach Steve Spurrier, who was in his eleventh year before his resignation on October 12, 2015; co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott took over as interim head coach. They played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in SEC play to finish in seventh place in the East division.
The history of Florida Gators football began in 1906, when the newly established "University of the State of Florida" fielded a football team during its first full academic year of existence. The school's name was shortened to the University of Florida in 1908, and the football team gained the nickname "Gators" in 1911. The program started small, usually playing six to eight games per season against small colleges and local athletic club teams in north Florida and south Georgia. The Orange and Blue developed early rivalries with the Stetson Hatters from nearby Deland and Mercer Bears from Macon. During the 1910s, Florida began playing a wider range of opponents from more established football programs across the southeastern United States and faced off against several future rivals - such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Auburn - for the first time.
The 2020 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season marked the Gamecocks' 127th overall season, and 29th as a member of the SEC East Division. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, and were led by head coach Will Muschamp until his firing on November 15. Mike Bobo was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The history of Duke Blue Devils football began in 1888, when Duke University first fielded a football team.
The South Carolina–Tennessee football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Tennessee Volunteers. The game was first played in 1903 in Columbia, SC. The two schools only faced-off 10 times before 1992, when they began playing annually as members of the SEC East division. As a result of recent SEC expansion, the game will no longer be annual beginning in 2024. Tennessee leads the all-time series 27–11–2,. The most recent game was a 41–20 Tennessee win in 2023.