1997 Gamecock Flashback

This blog post and the accompanying audio were originally posted prior to the 2013 season

The Brad Scott era at USC continues its slow fade in 1997, dropping to a 5-6 record. At least with the 6-5 in 1996 we had victories over Georgia and Clemson, but not so in ’97. The season could’ve turned out better, but a devastating knee injury to quarterback Anthony Wright against Tennessee forced 165-lb. Vic Penn into action.

Penn fled the program to Central Florida after the Clemson game, largely because he couldn’t throw the out (1:36:37 here). In that Clemson game, despite a blazing start by Troy Hambrick (TD’s at 22:10 and 31:50 here), we lost primarily due to Brad Scott making one of the worst calls in coaching history (1:05:50 here).

(Note: also fun to see Wally Burnham of USC matching defensive wits with Reggie Herring of Clemson. Two of the most hated defensive coordinators in the state’s history.)

Still, 5-6 was a picnic compared to what was coming.

Click here, or click the link to listen, and enjoy!

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