Top Five Defining Plays of USC 2011 Season

The 2011 Gamecocks football season was an historical rollercoaster from start to finish. South Carolina started the season ranked 12th in both preseason polls (AP & USA Today/Coaches) and finished 8th in the Coaches’ Poll and 9th in the AP Poll. Carolina kicked off the season on a neutral field in Charlotte, NC versus East Carolina University with a quarterback not named Garcia, and USC completed the season in Orlando, FL against Nebraska University in the Capital One Bowl without Garcia under center, as well. To coin a music lyric, “Against All Odds”, by Phil Collins, the Gamecocks endured a grueling 13 game schedule, earning a record-setting 11 wins without superstar running back Marcus Lattimore (injured during the seventh game of the season) and redshirt senior quarterback Stephen Garcia, benched after the fifth game of the season & dismissed after the sixth game of the season for failing a drug test. I will attempt to convince you of five plays that defined South Carolina’s greatest season ever on the gridiron.

#1 Play: Melvin Ingram’s 68-yard Fake Punt Touchdown Scamper Between the Hedges

With South Carolina trailing UGA 13-7 and facing a 4th & 7 from USC’s own 32-yard line in the second quarter, Gamecocks Special Teams Coach John Butler noticed Georgia’s Punt Return personnel aligned favorably for Butler to reach into his bag of tricks and select a play to try and generate some momentum for USC’s offense. Well, the play called Garnet was executed perfectly by the upback, Melvin Ingram, as Ingram received a direct snap from deep snapper, Walker Inabinet, followed his blocks to the left sideline, hurdled a would-be tackler, UGA’s Brandon Boykin, about 20 yards downfield, and then the 267-pound defensive end raced to the end zone giving South Carolina a 14-13 halftime lead. After Ingram’s Fake Punt, ESPN cameras caught Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt slamming his headset to the ground in disgust after the fake punt. Priceless! South Carolina would squeak out a victory 45-42 and beat Georgia for the second year in a row under Steve Spurrier.

#2 Play: Alshon Jeffery’s Game-Winning Touchdown Reception at Mississippi State

The Mississippi State game represented the first true road game of the post-Stephen Garcia era for South Carolina. USC traveled to Starkville, MS after thumping Kentucky at home 54-3 to begin a tough three-game road stretch at Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas. The game represented Connor Shaw’s first true road start for the Gamecocks in a tough environment as the signal-caller for the Gamecocks. South Carolina was still in control of its own destiny of winning the SEC East but unsure of how its newly anointed sophomore quarterback would perform away from the confines of Williams-Brice stadium. Through three quarters of play, the USC offense was sluggish against a feisty Bulldogs defense. As the fourth quarter began, the Gamecocks trailed 10-7 and were seeking an offensive spark to triumph in Starkville and remain in the driver’s seat of the SEC East. With 9:44 left in the fourth quarter, Shaw, along with Bruce Ellington, march the Carolina offense 75 yards in 11 plays to the MSU four-yard line. On 3rd & Goal, Shaw lobs a pass towards Jeffery in the end zone, where the 6’4” Calhoun County native out jumped two MSU defenders to record the game-winning touchdown for the Gamecocks and salvage a hard-fought 14-12 victory on the road in the SEC. USC would continue to control its own destiny in the race for the SEC East heading into the BYE Week.

#3 Play: Auburn’s Barrett Trotter Completes a 3rd & 13 Pass on Game-Winning Drive

This game was by far the most gut wrenching game for Gamecock fans to endure of any game on the schedule this year. Auburn’s offense executed 92 plays on offense that afternoon in the cockpit, while USC’s offense, led by former USC Quarterback Stephen Garcia, sputtered along to its most lethargic offensive performance of the year. The 10th-ranked Gamecocks were 4-0 and playing on national TV (CBS) against a young, undermanned Auburn team that had lost a lot of production off of last year’s national championship team. Unfortunately, USC’s signal caller, Garcia, was not playing at a high level, it was the first game where starting Left Tackle Kyle Nunn was out with his injury, and these two items led to a disastrous offensive show. Trailing USC 13-9 in the fourth quarter, Auburn took over the ball at its own 40-yard line with less than six minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Facing a 3rd & 13 from its own 42-yard line, AU quarterback Barrett Trotter fires a strike, on the 83rd offensive play of the game for Auburn, to a wide open Tigers WR DeAngelo Benton at the USC 45-yard line. Nine plays later, Trotter finds TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen on a nine-yard touchdown pass. If USC had stopped Auburn on 3rd & 13, forced Auburn to punt and then runoff a few minutes on the clock, who knows if this game has a different result and USC finds a way to win, while keeping its unblemished record intact. This one play may have single-handedly kept South Carolina out of the Georgia Dome in the SEC Championship Game.

#4 Play: Capital One Bowl Hail Mary Touchdown Pass to Alshon Jeffery

The last play in the first half of the Capital One Bowl catapulted South Carolina to an 11-win season. Alshon Jeffery’s amazing last-second TD reception of Connor Shaw’s desperation throw sealed Nebraska’s fate in the game even with another 30 minutes of football to play. Up until that play, USC was trailing 13-9; Nebraska had momentum and was getting the football to start the second half. Jeffery’s leaping catch and subsequent stretch into the end zone gave USC a 16-13 intermission lead and shifted the pendulum into Carolina’s favor the rest of the game, as the Gamecocks defense suffocated Nebraska’s offense in the second half en route to a 30-13 victory and snapping a three-game bowl losing streak.

#5 Play: Fourth Quarter 46-Yard Pass Completion from Shaw to Ace Sanders Against Florida

The Gamecocks clung to a slim 14-12 fourth quarter lead, and Shaw had completed only five passes for a meager 38 yards. Carolina was stagnant on offense, and the Gators were focused on stopping the USC running game. With this game’s outcome hanging in the balance, Steve Spurrier dialed up a go route, and Connor Shaw delivered a perfect pass to WR Ace Sanders for a 46-yard pass completion that placed Carolina in Field Goal range for Kicker Jay Wooten. Four plays following the completion to Sanders, Wooten nailed a 28-yard field goal, giving USC a five-point cushion, 17-12, that dynamically changed UF’s strategy late in the ballgame from kicking a field goal to having to score a touchdown. USC would go on to win the football game, sweep the SEC East divisional opponents for the first time ever and secure six conference wins for the first time as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

Go Gamecocks!