South Carolina football has unified many students and stands as a community builder for its fans. It is important to many students on campus for that reason, and most students have a definitive favorite moment from the last four years of the sport.
For students of the class of 2021, there were several iconic moments in their four years on campus that stand out. The Daily Gamecock interviewed 40 students, and they remembered the following events as memorable.
Sept. 2, 2017, was the opening day for Gamecock football that fall.
“Deebo Samuel opened it up with a 100-yard touchdown,” fourth-year biology student Chris Olivieri said.
Samuel went on to score two more touchdowns, securing the Gamecocks a 35-28 victory.
“I was so excited for the rest of the season,” fourth-year exercise science student Evan Robinette said. “I guess my enthusiasm peaked at that moment.”
On a sunny day in October 2018, the Gamecock football team geared up to play the Missouri Tigers.
"South Carolina was struggling a little bit in the first half," fourth-year biochemistry student Jefferson Dao said.
Missouri ended up leading the Gamecocks by 9 points at the half.
“It started out super hot, then it started raining, and it got to about the end of the first half, and then it started pouring,” fourth-year information technology student Parker Mitton said. “Most people left.”
The Gamecocks opened up the second half with 17 unanswered points, turning their 9-point deficit into an 8-point lead. As the rain continued to fall, the student section continued to get rowdy.
“For the stadium being empty after half, it was a pretty electric atmosphere,” fourth-year visual communications student Rendan Overcash said.
The fourth quarter started off slow for the Gamecocks, but they held strong and made it through the end.
"It eventually led to a comeback where we won the game with a game-winning field goal," Dao said.
Parker White kicked that field goal with two seconds left in the game.
After a mediocre five-game start to the 2019 season, the Gamecock football team was faced with what would be one of its highest-ranked opponents of the season: the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.
The game was a defensive battle, ending with a score of 17-17 at the end of regulation and being forced into overtime.
"The most stressful game I've ever been apart of," fourth-year exercise science student Michael Worthy said. "Parker White missed that field goal that would have won us the game, and then we had to go into another overtime. Blankenship missed his field goal, and we ended up winning it there."
Fourth-year public health student Kallie Snipes turned on the radio to listen to the game while she was at the beach.
“When we won it in the fourth, it was like the whole beach was hollering, yelling — we were all jumping around," Snipes said.