Just trying to distract you from the fact that I am a day off on the countdown. Sorry, I ain’t real good at countin’. We’ll resume tomorrow with #17.

– buck

Who did you expect, Carl Platt?

Steve Taneyhill came out of nowhere in 1992 to take an 0-5 Gamecock squad and guide them to a 5-1 finish. No South Carolina season has ever seen so much despair followed by so much euphoria.  Early in the season players revolted and voted to “dismiss” Sparky Woods.  But Woods turned to the long-haired freshman from Pennsyvania in game six, and the rest is history.

Taneyhill not only won games, but did it with flair that gained him and the team national recognition – hair flowing out of the back of the helmet (did we even call it a mullet back then?), taking the helmet off and mugging for the camera (thanks “the U”), and mock home run swings.  But there was substance to go with the style, as he led the Gamecocks to their first ever bowl victory, and even briefly moved into Heisman contention in 1995 after a 473-yard performance against Mississippi State.

To this day, when people find out I’m a Gamecock fan, some still ask “who was that long-haired quarterback you guys used to have?”

“Taneyhill.”

“Yeah, that’s it.  I HATED that guy.”

Sometimes it’s good to be hated.

New marketing campaign idea:

Today we tackle one of the most important topics in the history of Gamecock football – nay, all of college football – the uniform.  South Carolina has worn every combination of garnet, black & white possible the last 118 years.  And if they haven’t, then it’s a shame, because white helmets, black jerseys and garnet pants just might work…

Everyone has their opinion on helmets and jersey/pant combinations, and I’m here to tell you without a doubt what were the best Gamecock unis ever.  So let’s get down to it.

First of all, you people with your graphics programs and WAY too much time on your hands (says the guy running the Gamecock sports blog), please STOP IT.  We are never going to have helmets with a palmetto tree or some sort of claw on them.

Next, to those of you in the 2004 “black” camp – no, no, no, a thousand times NO.  Unless you’re planning to start a new XFL team or just can’t get it in your head that the Miami Sharks aren’t real, let it go.  The black uniforms were not “bad” or “cool”, and certainly did not intimidate a single opponent.  Just ask Yusef Kelly.

Black helmets + any combination of white and black unis = worst idea ever.  (As a Falcons fan I got a little misty when they wore the throwback Bartkowski unis last year.  I miss them so.)

Now to narrow down the rest of the field:

The Rogers-era unis – good, but today’s translation of those probably result in our 2005 iteration.  I like the larger block C, and garnet facemasks might be interesting.

JoMo-era unis – Good move to go to the garnet helmets, but never got the helmet striping quite right.  The really loose jerseys are hard to watch from that era.

Sparky-era unis – Fixed the striping issue on the helmets with a solid black down the middle flanked by narrow white stripes.  Jerseys and pants were blah, and solid black shoes weren’t great.

Scott-era unis – The one thing he did right.  Outstanding unis to go with great helmets.  Lost his way late (in more ways than one) by going to shadowed numbers, which was all the rage at the time.

Early Holtz-era unis – we deserved to go 0-11.  Plain, traditional uniforms  are for teams who have always had plain, traditional uniforms (see Penn St.).

Mid-Holtz-era unis – Started getting somewhere by adding the extra stripes to the helmets.

End of Holtz era – You really want me to get started on that again?

Early Spurrier unis – Brought back mid-Holtz. Solid, but the Russell jerseys looked cheap.

Spurrier Under Armour – I have to admit, I was pretty pumped when I heard we had inked a deal with UA. But I feel kind of like Jerry in the Seinfeld episode where he has the girlfriend that looks great in one light, but hideous in the other. Also, anything with “piping” just doesn’t seem right to me. The jury is out, and may never come back in.

The winner? No doubt in my mind the mid-90’s uniforms – garnet helmets, sharp jerseys with outlined “Carolina” and numbers, and wide striping on the pants. I think when Spurrier came on he missed the boat by not going back to garnet helmets.  Duce Staley concurs.

– buck

Oh, who could forget the feeling we had after the 1996 Clemson game…no, no, not the nausea from watching us almost cough up a 34-17 fourth-quarter lead and the bruised knees and bloody knuckles from falling to the floor in prayer as Clemson attempted a tying field goal.  The other feeling.

Yes, the feeling the Troy Hambrick was taking the torch from Duce Staley and our running game would be in more than capable hands for the next three years.  Hambrick would be a beast for us, an all-SEC back for which teams would have no answer.  After all, he had finished the season strong filling in for Duce after he sprained his ankle against Vandy, and he complimented Duce nicely with 135 yards against the Clembillies.

And the touchdown run in that game.  The magnificent touchdown run.  Hitting the hole, breaking into the open, and just as he was running out of gas that last little lean that sent the pursuer sprawling.  A thing of beauty.

Alas, Hambrick’s next two years were very Mike Davis-esque – 604 yards in ’97 and 701 yards in ’98.  Not quite the superstar we had hoped.

When Lou Holtz was hired many thought it would be a great new start for Hambrick.  He would be the feature back for a power running team.  But before he ever played a down he was kicked off the team for a ________-related offense.  (You fill in the blank, I don’t remember but am pretty sure it’s one of a half dozen things.)

Hambrick went on to play a couple of years in the League, including some time with his favorite team, the Cowboys.  He and his brother Darren now run a very successful frozen banana stand in Pomona Beach, CA.  It’s true, I read it on the internet.

– buck

In the interest of full disclosure, I hate it when a quarterback wears a number any higher than 19.  Always have.  Despite that, I think Bobby Fuller was one of the five, maybe four, best quarterbacks to ever play at South Carolina.  Over his two years as a starter after transferring from Appalachian State he put up some very nice numbers, combining a decent arm with great decision making and accuracy.  Yet you never hear his name mentioned in any South Carolina quarterback conversation.  Ever. 

It must be because he played in the post-Ellis, pre-Taneyhill era, an era so devoid of color, sound and smell that it has practically self-stricken itself from the record books.  It was about as memorable as Sparky Woods (whom we also plucked from App State) himself, the most beige head coach in our history. I have as few memories from the 89-92 seasons as any.

Of course, those included my last 2 1/2 years of college, so never mind.  Mystery solved.

– buck

I know, calm down Ryan Brewer fans.  I made the rules – first player that pops into my head – so I have to abide by them.  (For the record, I love me some #21 Lou Holtz edition just as much as you.)  I guess I picked Zola Davis because I’m a big-time jersey number guy, and I’ve always loved to see a WR wear a number in the 20’s.  It’s like they’re saying “I don’t give a crap what number I have on my jersey, I’m going to beat you like a rented mule.”

Davis came highly recruited to USC and as the guy who was going to put an extra gear into Brad Scott’s high-powered offensive machine.  (A machine that did indeed become offensive.)  He wound up having a good career, but not great, which is what we were banking on.

The lasting memory I have of Zola is catching a TD pass from #18 (who we’ll get to later) in the back of the end zone just before halftime against UGA in Athens.  It was so easy and so effortless, with his soft hands and arms way too long for his body.  It was the first game of the 1995 season, and we were coming off a season in 1994 in which we had thrashed Clemson 33-7 and won our first ever bowl game.  Life was good as we took a 14-7 lead into the locker room against UGA.

Then, UGA unleashed a converted DB on us named Robert Edwards who proceeded to score five TD’s and run for 160+ yards.  The next week we went into Arkansas and Madre Hill scored six TD’s in a 51-21 ‘Hog victory.

Sorry Zola, the unpleasantness of that season still overwhelms me.

– buck

In my former life as a member of the criminal justice system, I often used Relationship Diagrams to help visualize connections between people and actions.  The diagrams were extremely helpful during investigations, and juries loved them.  Now, I am certainly not suggesting that anything illegal is afoot with the NCAA probe into agents and college players, but part of me suspects that, somewhere in the mysterious offices of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, there is a piece of foam posterboard that looks something like this:-tbone

The travails of Derek Watson have been well-chronicled, so I won’t go into detail.  But here are a few moments I remember from his Greek tragedy of a college career:

– Busting off a long run near the end of the hurricane game against NC State in Lou Holtz’ first game as Gamecock coach.  A long run that gave us hope for the future and made us all say, “this guy’s got a chance”.

– His 20-some yard touchdown run that sealed the stunning 2000 upset of #9 Georgia. I can still see him running up on the end zone camera, crossing his arms and nodding his head.  I thought it was cool, but Lou didn’t.  It wasn’t the last time #22 would disappoint Lou.

– “The Fade” game against Mississippi State.  Returns a kickoff for a touchdown that is unfortunately called back by a stupid penalty.  Then MSU returns a Watson fumble for a touchdown, and he completely goes in the tank (he fumbled again later, maybe even twice, if I’m not mistaken.)  Then he runs out of bounds while we’re trying to run out the clock.  A bad day for Watson that ended spectacularly for the Gamecocks.

– His long run against Clemson in “The Push” game.  This one is a little telling to me, in that he does something really good, and ends it with something really stupid.

Wherever you are Derek, I hope you got it turned around.

– buck