Recalling Carolina's 1992 Win vs. Mississippi State

The Gamecocks overcame an 0-5 start and a player revolt to notch their first-ever SEC win 31 years ago this fall

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Setting the scene - A brief history of the Gamecock/Bulldog rivalry

This Saturday will mark the 17th meeting between the University of South Carolina and Mississippi State University. Though the two schools were members of the sprawling Southern Conference between 1922 and 1932, the Gamecocks and Bulldogs never met on the gridiron in those earlier days.

By 1933, the Bulldogs left the Southern Conference to help form the Southeastern Conference, along with LSU, Mississippi, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and since-departed SEC members Georgia Tech, Tulane and Sewanee. South Carolina meanwhile remained in the Southern Conference for another two decades, until helping to form the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953 along with Clemson, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland and Virginia.

Although Starkville is only 500 miles from Columbia - about the same distance as former ACC rival Maryland’s College Park campus - it took the Gamecocks and Bulldogs a century to get together, during Carolina’s inaugural season as an SEC member in 1992. Since then, the programs have met 16 times, with the Gamecocks holding a 9-7 advantage. State largely had their way in the early years of the rivalry, winning six of the first eight, before Carolina won the next seven straight. The Bulldogs snapped that streak in their 27-14 win at Starkville in 2016.

There have been some spirited and entertaining matchups between the two programs over the years, perhaps most notably, the first college football game in the nation following the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But none of the previous 16 matchups was more important to the Gamecocks than their first meeting 31 years ago.

A botched exorcism, an 0-5 start, and a player revolt

As USC approached the 1992 football season, its first as a member of the mighty Southeastern Conference, fans were eager to vanquish any lingering remnants of bad luck embodied by the dreaded “Chicken Curse.” It was a phrase first coined in 1977 by Doug Nye, a columnist for Columbia’s former evening newspaper, The Columbia Record.

Nye’s tongue-in-cheek explanation of the various misfortunes which had bedeviled Gamecock teams over the years resonated with fans, and the phrase entered popular culture. Nye expanded on the theme in a 1990 article, “…a major weapon of the curse is its damnable tendency to tease - to take Gamecock fans to the brink, make them think that their team is about to accomplish the ultimate, and then hit ‘em with a dream-shattering slam to the gut.”

USC booster Floyd Bowie, Jr took matters into his own hands in September of 1992, arranging for a public exorcism to be held outside the gates of Williams-Brice Stadium the day before USC’s season-opening matchup with Georgia. “We are tired of the curse rearing its ugly head,” Bowie told Dave Moniz of The State. Bowie, who was assistant general manager of marketing for the minor league Columbia Mets, was no stranger to generating publicity in his professional role. He reportedly asked a witch doctor if the curse could be redirected. “He said yes, so we’re going to redirect,” Bowie remarked. Asked where they might redirect the Chicken Curse, Bowie simply stated, “Upstate.”

On the afternoon of Friday, September 4, Bowie’s hired witch doctor, Archibald Thibeaux of Blythewood, performed his black magic ceremony to rid USC of the dreaded curse. A small crowd gathered to watch the brief ritual, and when it was finished, Thibeaux boldly declared, “The curse is gone. We will be victorious. Call me if it doesn’t work, but we will win.” He went on to cite a 98.5% success rate for lifting curses. How can you argue with a data-verified witch doctor?

Thibeaux likely changed his number, however, as the Gamecocks went on to lose the Georgia game 28-6. The following week Carolina lost 45-7 to a bad Arkansas Razorbacks team which had been upset 10-3 by The Citadel in week one. By week three, things turned sordid as the Gamecocks suffered a second-straight loss to East Carolina, 20-18, on a rainy night in Columbia as place kicker Marty Simpson missed wide-right on a potential game-winning field goal in the final moments.

Fans turned on Woods, as boos rained down from frustrated Williams-Brice crowds throughout the Arkansas and East Carolina games. The most vocal detractors skewered the fourth-year coach in radio call-in shows and vented their spleen in voluminous letters to the editor calling for Woods’ mid-season termination. The atmosphere was so toxic, Ted Danaielson, a Clemson alum from Batesburg wrote to The State chastising Gamecock fans for their negativity and commending Woods’ team for their valor and commitment, win or lose.

The 0-3 Gamecocks, undoubtably eager to get out of Columbia for a while, traveled to Lexington, Kentucky for a matchup with a Wildcat team which would end the season on a five-game losing streak, including a 20-7 home loss to Vanderbilt. The Wildcats dispatched a hapless Gamecock team, 13-9.

Senior quarterback Wright Mitchell quit the team after being benched in favor of redshirt freshman Blake Williamson prior to the next game versus Alabama. A 48-7 trouncing at the hands of the eventual national champion followed, handing Carolina its fifth loss in as many games.

Curses are stubborn things.

Entering an open date, which the understated Woods called “much needed,” Carolina found its season at a crossroads. The Gamecocks, who were marking their 100th season of football, not only stood at 0-5, but also owned Division I football’s longest losing streak at nine games, going back to November of 1991. They were the only winless team in the league by mid-October, and found themselves last in nearly every statistical category, having been outscored by opponents 154-47. Adding to that, Jackie Sherrill’s 15th-ranked Mississippi State squad was slated to travel to Columbia for an October 17 matchup on the other side of the open date.

Following the open date weekend, things took a turn for the surreal. In a players-only meeting on Monday, October 12, the team reportedly voted 62 to 24 to ask Woods to resign. Woods, reached that evening for comment by Columbia television station WOLO-TV said he had no intention of resigning.

“No. I came here and worked very hard. Our staff’s worked very hard,” Woods said. “We’re working as a team. A team does everything together. We’re not 0-5 because of any individual’s fault. It’s all our problems, and we’ve all got to be a solution to the problem.”

Athletics director King Dixon declined comment, deferring to Woods, adding, “that’s a football matter… I just don’t think it would be appropriate as athletics director to comment on that at this particular time.”

By Tuesday afternoon, Woods had engineered an uneasy truce with his team and had them back on the practice field. This followed a vote of confidence from Dixon, who by Tuesday morning voiced support for his head coach. A pre-practice locker room visit by USC President John Palms further solidified Woods’ standing.

There even seemed to be some question as to the extent of the revolt. Senior linebacker Ben Hogan told David Newton of The State that the player’s only meeting was called by “a few guys who had complaints… guys who thought they should be playing more, guys who had been moved from first team to second team.” Hogan elaborated, “Most of us didn’t even know we were having a meeting. There was no organization to it. I was standing in the locker room in my jock strap and somebody called a team meeting out. I thought Coach Woods might have called it.”

Newton spoke with senior offensive guard Antoine Rivens who said the issue had been quashed Monday evening when Woods told the team to report for a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning or have their lockers cleared. “He put his foot down and told us what was going to be done and how it was going to be done,” Rivens told Newton. “That was the proper way to do it. That is what we needed,” adding, “He’s the coach of our team. When we signed our scholarships, we did not sign to be on the board of trustees… Our job is to play and his job is to coach.”

The insurrection quelled, Woods’ Gamecocks worked to salvage a season on the brink, and all efforts turned toward a Mississippi State game just days away. Tailback Brandon Bennet told Newton the offense had worked hard during the open date to correct the mental errors which had plagued them during the first five games. He predicted better times ahead. “I hate to lose,” Bennett said, “I’m ready to start winning some games.”

Enter Taneyhill

Steve Taneyhill is a Gamecock legend now. He is a two time vanquisher of Clemson at Death Valley, the first quarterback to lead USC to a bowl victory, and still the holder of USC’s all-time passing touchdowns and completions records (62 and 753 respectively). His 8,782 career passing yards is second in program history behind only Todd Ellis. His name is bronze-cast in the minds of Gamecock fans, and there is a strong argument for the retirement of his number 18 jersey.

But in October of 1992, he was a relatively untested, yet nonetheless brash true freshman from Altoona, Pennsylvania. His arrival in Columbia caused a stir from the beginning, arriving as he did with long hair, festooned no less with an earring stud - quite a look in a sleepy Southern college town in those days. He exuded confidence, boasting to reporters during spring practice that he would be the starting quarterback by mid-season. That boast, and his cocky persona did little to endear him to teammates early on.

Still, Woods was ready to try his hand with a new quarterback. It represented a fresh start, and an injection of confidence was exactly what his team needed. And so, when the Gamecocks took the field to the strains of “2001” on that gorgeous October afternoon against the 15th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, they did so with their third starting quarterback in six games, and a true freshman at that.

The 19-year-old Taneyhill enjoyed one of the most Taneyhill of days that Saturday, completing 7 of 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, while guiding the Gamecocks to a season-best 505 total yards and an unlikely 21-6 upset win over a top-15 conference team. Beyond the stats though, he injected a desperately needed element of swagger to a previously beleaguered Gamecock team.

The State’s Bob Gillespie wrote of Taneyhill’s antics,

“He played to the crowd like a cheerleader, bouncing around on the sidelines, waving a towel at the fans, cupping a hand to his ear as if to say, ‘Louder, I can’t hear you!’ Is there enough mustard at the concession stands to cover this guy?”

Before 55,102 fans, the smallest home crowd of the season, a legend was born. Had Taneyhill faded into oblivion after that game (as if he were ever capable of such a thing), he would still be revered at Carolina for the excitement and joy he brought to Gamecock Nation that fall afternoon in the unlikeliest of scenarios. He would still enjoy legend status for snapping the nation’s longest losing streak, for securing the program’s first SEC win, for enabling smiles to once again enliven the faces of players and coaches and fans alike.

Freshman quarterback Steve Taneyhill celebrates USC’s first Southeastern Conference win, October 17, 1992 (courtesy Travis Bell Photography)

But of course, he was not done. Behind Taneyhill’s heroics, Carolina surged to five victories in their final six games, defeating Vanderbilt, a ranked Tennessee team, Louisiana Tech, and winning at Clemson for the first time since 1984 in a season finale worthy of a chef’s kiss. In their one late season loss, a 14-9 setback against SEC-East winning Florida in Gainesville, the Gamecocks played valiantly, coming oh so close to six-straight wins and bowl eligibility. After the 0-5 start, it was an astounding turnaround, and one of the feel-good stories of the 1992 college football season.

Anyone who witnessed that rollercoaster of a season recalls it vividly. The anticipation of SEC membership, the anguish of early season drubbings, the players’ revolt, the unbridled joy of a second half turnaround, and the injection of confidence and joy that young quarterback provided everyone.

Of his much talked about long hair and earring, Taneyhill told reporters after the MSU game, “All this stuff about my looks… I’m just a person. It’s a big issue down here. I don’t understand. Back home, all the guys and girls have earrings. This is just me. I’m not changing me.” Told of Taneyhill’s comments, wide receiver Asim Penney quipped, “He can wear a dress for all I care.”

The real curse breaker as it turned out, was not a Blythewood witch doctor, but a long-haired 19-year-old quarterback from Altoona, Pennsylvania. As the Gamecocks take the field against the Bulldogs this Saturday, here’s hoping for a dose of that swagger, and a little bit of that old black magic.