Know Your Opponent: South Carolina

The Gators return to Gainesville for their final SEC game of the regular season. Their opponents are the Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina. South Carolina College was founded in 1801 and later became the University of South Carolina shortly after the Civil War. The school now enrolls almost 32,000 students, including over 24,000 undergrads. The school colors are garnet (a dark shade of red) and black.

When South Carolina last met Florida in the Swamp, the
Gators exploited four Gamecock turnovers to rout the Cocks,
44-11. The lopsided victory was accomplished despite only
recording 183 yards of offense. Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

South Carolina first began playing football in 1892 and has had moderate success since that time. South Carolina was a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1953 and remained in that conference until becoming an independent in 1971. South Carolina joined the Southeastern Conference in 1992. South Carolina won a single ACC championship in 1969 and has never won an SEC title. The Gamecocks play home games in Williams-Brice Stadium, near the university campus. Williams-Brice Stadium has a capacity of over 80,000. The record single-game attendance, however, stands at over 85,000.

Despite a list of notable successes, South Carolina has never won a national title. One Gamecock, George Rogers, was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 1980. Recently, South Carolina has finished as high as #9, #8, and #4 in the final AP polls (2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively). In addition, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were the first, second, and third years that South Carolina had won 11 games in a single season.

The Florida Gators and South Carolina Gamecocks first met on the football field in 1911. However, they only began playing each other annually when South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. The Gators and Gamecocks have played a total of 34 games; 24 have ended in Florida triumphs, seven have been won by South Carolina, and three have been ties. The series has become more competitive since former Gator quarterback and head coach Steve Spurrier became head coach of the Gamecocks. Spurrier’s Gamecocks have defeated his old team on four occasions and played one notable game against the 2006 Gator squad that would go on to a national title. Florida had to block two kicks, a PAT and a field goal, to preserve their lead and come out with a 17-16 victory over the Gamecocks in the Swamp.

South Carolina's fight song, "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way", is actually an arrangement of the show tune "Step to the Rear" from Elmer Bernstein's 1967 musical "How Now, Dow Jones". Athletic director Paul Dietzel replaced the old fight song with it shortly after the musical closed on Broadway.