Last year we did an audio review of every Gamecock football season since 1987. Due to popular demand, we will be re-running the series this summer leading up to kickoff against Texas A&M on August 28.
South Carolina and Lou Holtz began 2004 with the intention of washing away memories of the horrifying 2003 finale. Skip Holtz had been stripped of play-calling duties (and of the notion he was the head-coach-in-waiting) and the Gamecocks took the field in god-awful black helmets and black and white uniform combinations.
After a somewhat encouraging 4-1 start with a close loss to a good Georgia team, USC stumbled to a 2-4 finish. Rumors began to swirl the last two weeks of the season that Holtz would be leaving. By the time the Clemson game rolled around not only was that a given, but there were also strong indications of who our next coach would be – Steve Spurrier. Obviously that seems easy to believe now that he’s entering his tenth season here, but at the time it was simply inconceivable that such a legend would come to USC.
Unfortunately, this garbage prevented us from giving Holtz a proper send-off. A 6-6 record would’ve probably gotten us a bowl bid, but the brawl cost us that and gave us a lot of bad national publicity.Even though things did not end well for Lou or the ’04 season, when Spurrier was announced as our next head coach a few days later, the program was given a much-needed shot of adrenaline.
Click here or click the graphic for the 2004 season review, and enjoy!
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