Truth is always stranger than fiction. Likewise, Tradition is something forged over time, not something just imputed on any football team. For 120 years, the faithful of the Garnet and Black have seen it all. Dropped passes, untimely interceptions, missed field goals, blocked field goals, fourth quarter collapses, and games that the Garnet and Black faithful just wished would never have happened. Before 2005, the year Steve Spurrier took the helm in Columbia; South Carolina only had one 10 win season to smile about.
And even that 10 win season will forever be tarnished by an everlasting lost at the hands of Navy; thus costing the “Black Magic” Gamecocks of 1984 a National Football Championship. South Carolina’s faithful always have had an abundance of pride for their beloved Gamecocks, but that undying devotion didn’t fill up the empty trophy cases in Columbia, South Carolina. Tradition never shined its face in Columbia, South Carolina. Instead for over 100 years, the enemy of Tradition, mediocrity set into a deep, deep freeze at South Carolina.
Steve Spurrier’s arrival in Columbia, South Carolina in the fall of 2004 gave the Gamecock faithful hope for the future, hope for a better tomorrow. Joining the SEC in 1992 didn’t aid South Carolina in its assent into a national football powerhouse. Many Gamecock fans would give their right hand just one win over Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, or to hated Clemson. The thought of beating all 4 in one year was unthinkable, it would never happen at South Carolina, but just to beat 1 of them every season would be sweet to a Gamecock! Maybe upon that particular upset a Gamecock could just shut his or her eyes and just pretend, even if it was for just a moment, pretend their Gamecocks was an SEC power, instead of an SEC and national doormat. But Spurrier was a winner, he was cocky, he had swagger, maybe he could turn this sinking ship at South Carolina around.
Years went by. 6-6 and 7-6 seasons became the norm with Spurrier and South Carolina. It was the spring of 2011, and the hope in was fading at South Carolina. Sure Carolina was coming off their first SEC Championship appearance, but when a team loses that game 56-17, is that really something to be proud of? The doubt grew, not in Spurrier, but in South Carolina. In the back of the heads of many South Carolina fans the thought crept in, “If Spurrier can’t win big here, can anyone? Is it time to give up the foolish dream of being a football powerhouse that rivals that of the Michigan’s, Notre Dame’s, Texas’, Oklahoma’s, Florida State’s, and Alabama’s of the world? It’s time to just give that foolish notion up. Sure I’ll love South Carolina, but I can’t expect them to do more than win 6 games a year.”
The darkest hour under Steve Spurrier’s tenure in Columbia gave way to the brightest dawn South Carolina has even known. Let’s revisit tradition. The great programs in college football all have tradition. What is that tradition? Where and how does it start? At Texas A&M, it’s the legend and myth of the 12th man. At Notre Dame, it’s the spirit of the Gipper that forever urges his beloved Irish to always fight on to victory and to always overcome the odds. For LSU, Billy Cannon will forever be running down the sidelines at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge in a cold October night in 1958 to beat Ole Miss and claim LSU’s first National Championship. A devote Tennessee Volunteers fan will forever be able to close their eyes and instantly recreate the moment in 1997, when Peyton Manning finally won the SEC Championship, and he, and he alone lead the Tennessee Band in singing “Rocky Top, Tennessee.”
For Auburn, Bo Jackson, and the play named “Bo over the top,” to knock off Alabama in 1982 will forever be a sacred moment in Auburn’s history. In Gainesville, Florida, Tim Tebow’s emotional and heartfelt speech to never lose again in 2008 following at 31-30 loss at the hands of Ole Miss, which ended up propelling the 2008 Gators to a National Championship, will forever be read alongside the gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John in Gator County. So what is tradition? Tradition in college football is forged by winning. That winning is caused by spectator football players. Every great program has a poster boy, an idol, an origin to their lasting gridiron success. Until 2011, South Carolina missed that player. But that changed in the fall of 2011, his name was Shaw, Connor Shaw to be exact.
“A boy from Georgia will come to you, and he will show you the way.” Flowery Branch, Georgia’s Connor Shaw decided to play for South Carolina, but little did he know when he arrived on campus in 2010 what he would do for the University of South Carolina. South Carolina had all the things a program needed to succeed when Connor Shaw showed up in 2010. They had a loyal and large fan base, they played in the nation’s best football conference, and they had a legend in Steve Spurrier at head coach. But they missed a solid, dependable and tough nosed quarterback. When Stephen Garcia exited the Gamecock program in 2011, Spurrier gave Shaw the node at quarterback.
And Shaw ran wild! He finished his football career at South Carolina in the 2014 Capital One Bowl with not only the game’s MVP honors, but with a rushing touchdown, a touchdown reception, and 3 passing touchdowns to tap off a career in which he finished 27-5 as South Carolina’s starting quarterback. He finished 18-0 at Williams-Brice Stadium, he never lost a bowl game, and most importantly, he NEVER lost to Clemson. Years will go by before the South Carolina faithful fully realizes how important and irreplaceable Connor Shaw was to the rise of South Carolina! He helped the dreams of South Carolina’s faithful to finally come true! Because of Shaw, South Carolina fans now expect to beat Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson; because Shaw led South Carolina to wins over all these schools!
Because of Shaw, the Gamecock faithful expect to win at home; because Connor never lost at home. Because of Shaw, the Gamecock faithful expect to win bowl games every year; because Shaw never lost a bowl game. And because of Shaw, South Carolina expects to win SEC Championships, because Shaw himself will admit, what he accomplished at South Carolina isn’t an end point, it’s a jump start! Connor Shaw took South Carolina out of the college football dark ages and he turned South Carolina into a powerhouse. He gave South Carolina a football tradition, and once a football program has a winning tradition, it can’t be undone. In addition, the character, selflessness, dedication, and faithfulness to South Carolina that Connor Shaw displayed while wearing the Garnet and Black embodies what it means to be a Gamecock!
We may be down, but South Carolina is never out of it! We never give up, we never stop fighting! Case in point, Connor Shaw led South Carolina back from a 17 point hole at Missouri in 2013, truly a comeback for the ages. Bottom-line is this, when one is South Carolina Gamecock, you belong forever to the South Carolina family! We are all in it together! Connor Shaw made us realize this, he brought the best out in us. And he made us even proud and dedicated to the University of South Carolina! And as time goes on, the winning tradition of South Carolina will only grow. And the legend of Connor Shaw grows alongside that growing tradition. With each new Gamecock born every day, with each new recruit, with every sandstorm, with each 2001 in Williams-Brice Stadium, the legend of Connor Shaw grows!
He was the finest quarterback in South Carolina history! When South Carolina finally wins the SEC and National Championships, looking back, Gamecocks will say “If it wasn’t for Connor Shaw forging our tradition, this day would not have came, and they’ll say, truly the legend of Connor Shaw grows!”
And even that 10 win season will forever be tarnished by an everlasting lost at the hands of Navy; thus costing the “Black Magic” Gamecocks of 1984 a National Football Championship. South Carolina’s faithful always have had an abundance of pride for their beloved Gamecocks, but that undying devotion didn’t fill up the empty trophy cases in Columbia, South Carolina. Tradition never shined its face in Columbia, South Carolina. Instead for over 100 years, the enemy of Tradition, mediocrity set into a deep, deep freeze at South Carolina.
Steve Spurrier’s arrival in Columbia, South Carolina in the fall of 2004 gave the Gamecock faithful hope for the future, hope for a better tomorrow. Joining the SEC in 1992 didn’t aid South Carolina in its assent into a national football powerhouse. Many Gamecock fans would give their right hand just one win over Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, or to hated Clemson. The thought of beating all 4 in one year was unthinkable, it would never happen at South Carolina, but just to beat 1 of them every season would be sweet to a Gamecock! Maybe upon that particular upset a Gamecock could just shut his or her eyes and just pretend, even if it was for just a moment, pretend their Gamecocks was an SEC power, instead of an SEC and national doormat. But Spurrier was a winner, he was cocky, he had swagger, maybe he could turn this sinking ship at South Carolina around.
Years went by. 6-6 and 7-6 seasons became the norm with Spurrier and South Carolina. It was the spring of 2011, and the hope in was fading at South Carolina. Sure Carolina was coming off their first SEC Championship appearance, but when a team loses that game 56-17, is that really something to be proud of? The doubt grew, not in Spurrier, but in South Carolina. In the back of the heads of many South Carolina fans the thought crept in, “If Spurrier can’t win big here, can anyone? Is it time to give up the foolish dream of being a football powerhouse that rivals that of the Michigan’s, Notre Dame’s, Texas’, Oklahoma’s, Florida State’s, and Alabama’s of the world? It’s time to just give that foolish notion up. Sure I’ll love South Carolina, but I can’t expect them to do more than win 6 games a year.”
The darkest hour under Steve Spurrier’s tenure in Columbia gave way to the brightest dawn South Carolina has even known. Let’s revisit tradition. The great programs in college football all have tradition. What is that tradition? Where and how does it start? At Texas A&M, it’s the legend and myth of the 12th man. At Notre Dame, it’s the spirit of the Gipper that forever urges his beloved Irish to always fight on to victory and to always overcome the odds. For LSU, Billy Cannon will forever be running down the sidelines at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge in a cold October night in 1958 to beat Ole Miss and claim LSU’s first National Championship. A devote Tennessee Volunteers fan will forever be able to close their eyes and instantly recreate the moment in 1997, when Peyton Manning finally won the SEC Championship, and he, and he alone lead the Tennessee Band in singing “Rocky Top, Tennessee.”
For Auburn, Bo Jackson, and the play named “Bo over the top,” to knock off Alabama in 1982 will forever be a sacred moment in Auburn’s history. In Gainesville, Florida, Tim Tebow’s emotional and heartfelt speech to never lose again in 2008 following at 31-30 loss at the hands of Ole Miss, which ended up propelling the 2008 Gators to a National Championship, will forever be read alongside the gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John in Gator County. So what is tradition? Tradition in college football is forged by winning. That winning is caused by spectator football players. Every great program has a poster boy, an idol, an origin to their lasting gridiron success. Until 2011, South Carolina missed that player. But that changed in the fall of 2011, his name was Shaw, Connor Shaw to be exact.
“A boy from Georgia will come to you, and he will show you the way.” Flowery Branch, Georgia’s Connor Shaw decided to play for South Carolina, but little did he know when he arrived on campus in 2010 what he would do for the University of South Carolina. South Carolina had all the things a program needed to succeed when Connor Shaw showed up in 2010. They had a loyal and large fan base, they played in the nation’s best football conference, and they had a legend in Steve Spurrier at head coach. But they missed a solid, dependable and tough nosed quarterback. When Stephen Garcia exited the Gamecock program in 2011, Spurrier gave Shaw the node at quarterback.
And Shaw ran wild! He finished his football career at South Carolina in the 2014 Capital One Bowl with not only the game’s MVP honors, but with a rushing touchdown, a touchdown reception, and 3 passing touchdowns to tap off a career in which he finished 27-5 as South Carolina’s starting quarterback. He finished 18-0 at Williams-Brice Stadium, he never lost a bowl game, and most importantly, he NEVER lost to Clemson. Years will go by before the South Carolina faithful fully realizes how important and irreplaceable Connor Shaw was to the rise of South Carolina! He helped the dreams of South Carolina’s faithful to finally come true! Because of Shaw, South Carolina fans now expect to beat Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson; because Shaw led South Carolina to wins over all these schools!
Because of Shaw, the Gamecock faithful expect to win at home; because Connor never lost at home. Because of Shaw, the Gamecock faithful expect to win bowl games every year; because Shaw never lost a bowl game. And because of Shaw, South Carolina expects to win SEC Championships, because Shaw himself will admit, what he accomplished at South Carolina isn’t an end point, it’s a jump start! Connor Shaw took South Carolina out of the college football dark ages and he turned South Carolina into a powerhouse. He gave South Carolina a football tradition, and once a football program has a winning tradition, it can’t be undone. In addition, the character, selflessness, dedication, and faithfulness to South Carolina that Connor Shaw displayed while wearing the Garnet and Black embodies what it means to be a Gamecock!
We may be down, but South Carolina is never out of it! We never give up, we never stop fighting! Case in point, Connor Shaw led South Carolina back from a 17 point hole at Missouri in 2013, truly a comeback for the ages. Bottom-line is this, when one is South Carolina Gamecock, you belong forever to the South Carolina family! We are all in it together! Connor Shaw made us realize this, he brought the best out in us. And he made us even proud and dedicated to the University of South Carolina! And as time goes on, the winning tradition of South Carolina will only grow. And the legend of Connor Shaw grows alongside that growing tradition. With each new Gamecock born every day, with each new recruit, with every sandstorm, with each 2001 in Williams-Brice Stadium, the legend of Connor Shaw grows!
He was the finest quarterback in South Carolina history! When South Carolina finally wins the SEC and National Championships, looking back, Gamecocks will say “If it wasn’t for Connor Shaw forging our tradition, this day would not have came, and they’ll say, truly the legend of Connor Shaw grows!”
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