When the Gamecocks and the Hokies Final Met – College of South Carolina Athletics

“I thought we really came into a buzzsaw,” sighed Coach Frank Beamer, the final time the Virginia Tech Hokies met the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Gamecocks will meet the Hokies on August 31 in Atlanta—a sport our followers haven’t stopped wanting ahead to because the finish of final season. It can be a historic matchup, notably for Coach Shane Beamer taking over his father’s previous crew.

There is a whole lot of historical past wrapped up on this soon-to-be-here matchup, and it’s price taking a better have a look at the final time these two groups met—September 21, 1991, at Williams-Brice Stadium.

These two universities return a good distance. The first time they met was again in 1905, when soccer was nonetheless a younger sport. Since then, the Gamecocks and Hokies have met 20 extra instances with Carolina boasting a successful file of 11-7-2. Even earlier than soccer, these faculties shared some historical past. John M. McBryde, who was a professor and president of the school right here through the Eighteen Eighties and early Nineties, left sunny Columbia for the mountains of Blacksburg to grow to be their president in 1891. Both campuses nonetheless have buildings named for a similar McBryde round at present.

In 1991, the Gamecocks hadn’t but joined the SEC. We had been nonetheless impartial, capping a two-decade run as a conference-less program after leaving the ACC. For extra on this historical past, see Alan Piercy’s latest e-book A Gamecock Odyssey.

We had gone 6-5 through the 1990 season, and hopes had been excessive for Coach Sparky Woods in his third yr and the return of beginning quarterback Bobby Fuller. Our first sport of the 1991 season resulted in a tie with the Duke Blue Devils 24-24 in Columbia. We misplaced our second sport 16-21 in a heartbreaker on the West Virginia Mountaineers the next week. So, as September 21 approached and the Hokies got here to city, a strong feeling of anticipation bordering on desperation was creeping into the soccer crew and its legions of followers.

68,200 followers packed into Williams-Brice Stadium for the Saturday evening sport. And they might keep till the very finish.

The Hokies scored first on their opening drive. Running again Tony Kennedy ripped aside the Gamecocks protection for runs of 18 and 19 yards, ending the drive on a 7-yard landing run.

But then the Gamecocks caught hearth and scored 21 straight factors. Eddie Miller caught a 55-yard go from Bobby Fuller to arrange the primary rating. Brandon Bennet pounded it in from two yards away to attain the second, and Leroy Jeter took a two-yard go into the top zone to go up 21-7 within the second quarter.

But then Virginia Tech scored twice tying the sport at 21-21 within the third quarter. The Hokies had been driving once more, however Robert Gibson intercepted a go thrown by Tech’s quarterback Will Furrer to return possession to the Gamecocks. After Bobby Fuller discovered David Pitchko for a 26-yard acquire, Terry Willburn ran it in for a six-yard landing.

We had been up 28-21 with 2:24 nonetheless to go within the third quarter. But that might find yourself being the ultimate rating, but not with out much more angst to come back for the packed Williams-Brice Stadium. “Pass the Pepto-Bismol,” Bob Gillespie wrote in his column for the following day’s editorial in The State.

Once once more, the Hokies threatened as time ticked down. With solely 22 seconds left, the Hokies scored a 33-yard landing, however officers known as it again after an unlawful formation name. As stomachs twisted on the sphere and within the stands, Virginia Tech aired it out once more for the top zone, however this time, Jerry Inman made a spectacular interception. “It was an easy play to make because it was the least I could do,” a humble Inman instructed The State. The defensive entrance was placing nice stress on the quarterback.”

The Gamecocks had received, upping their file to a uncommon 1-1-1.

“USC’s 28-21 survival of Virginia Tech had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie murder mystery,” Gillespie wrote. “How could anyone depart until they knew who done it: the butler, the chambermaid, Bobby Fuller, Will Furrer?”

“It seemed like every play was a big play,” recalled Bobby Fuller after the sport. “It was a crazy game like that, one thing after another.”

It may need been a wild sport, nevertheless it was removed from boring.

And there’s a great probability that’s how the upcoming sport will play out on August 31 as Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks meet Brent Pry’s Hokies in Atlanta to launch the 2025 soccer season. Quite a bit has modified since 1991, however the want for Pepto-Bismol available whereas watching the Gamecocks has not. Let’s hope we will elevate our pink glasses in celebration similar to they did 34 years in the past when these groups final met.