Remembering when South Carolina knocked off Alabama in 2010

On Saturday, Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team will be looking to earn its third top-ten win since Beamer took over the program in 2021 as the Alabama Crimson Tide will host the Gamecocks in Tuscaloosa. Ironically, Steve Spurrier—who has the most top-ten wins in program history with eight—picked up his third top-ten victory with the Gamecocks back in 2010 over the Crimson Tide.

The afternoon of October 9, 2010 is the stuff of legends in Columbia. Williams-Brice Stadium was packed and as loud as ever despite game temps being a warm 85 degrees. College GameDay was in town, and the game was slotted into the 3:30 CBS Game of the Week broadcast spot. The undefeated, No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide had their thoughts on back-to-back National Championships.

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The Nick Saban-led Crimson Tide also had smacked South Carolina the year before in the most competitive-but-still-dominant way possible. The Gamecock defense played well that day but couldn’t stop Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram running the wildcat. He finished the 20-6 matchup with 246 yards rushing and added 23 more as a receiver.

The Gamecocks made sure that didn’t happen again. Ingram was limited to just 41 rushing yards in the rematch as the South Carolina defense got their revenge.

On the day, defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson’s unit surrendered over 380 yards to a supremely talented Alabama offense that sent three quarterbacks, three running backs, three wide receivers, three tight ends/fullbacks, and eight offensive linemen to the NFL.

However, the Big Game Garnet-clad defense did just enough to limit Alabama on the scoreboard. Thanks in large part to seven sacks (two each for legendary defenders Melvin Ingram and Stephon Gilmore), USC forced a turnover, a turnover on downs, and multiple field goal attempts to help hold the Tide to just two total touchdowns.

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On offense, the Gamecocks got huge performances from their best players.

Marcus Lattimore had 93 yards rushing and 16 receiving, but he also scored three total touchdowns. His first score came on a well-designed angle route that followed a 22-yard rush earlier in the drive. His second came just as Alabama cut the Carolina lead to just seven points. Then, the game-sealer came as he ran through the combined tackling effort of NFL-bound players Mark Barron and Dont’a Hightower.

On the outside, Alshon Jeffery was unguardable. Future pros like Dre Kirkpatrick, Mark Barron, and Dee Milliner could do nothing against the Calhoun County native. No. 1 scored once on a perfectly delivered ball Stephen Garcia placed just over Barron’s outstretched arms. His second touchdown came after he won a hand-fighting battle with Milliner. Jeffery’s best catch of the day came as Kirkpatrick held down his left arm; it didn’t matter as the Gamecock receiver only needed his right to secure the grab before racing inside the 10-yard line to set up the team’s final score.

Stephen Garcia played the game of his life. Going 17/20, he had one true incompletion (one ball slipped from his hands, and the other was a bobbled pass). He was sharp as a passer, made good decisions, and helped out in the run game. The only real blemish on Garcia’s stat line was an interception that came off of a ball that was knocked out of Jeffery’s hands.

Garcia was the only FBS quarterback with multiple touchdowns and an 80% completion percentage against a No. 1 team over the last fifteen seasons until Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia matched him last Saturday against…Alabama.

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Coming into the 2010 contest, Nick Saban’s team had allowed just 45 points in five games. However, the Gamecocks dropped 35. No team all year scored more rushing touchdowns (2) or passing touchdowns (3) against Alabama than South Carolina. USC also held the Tide to a season-low rushing total (36 yards). The game was one of two in 2010 in which they didn’t find the end zone on the ground.

For an upset over the 7th-ranked Crimson Tide to be possible on Saturday, the Gamecocks will have to play their best game of the year. Alabama sits right around a three-touchdown favorite according to most betting lines. South Carolina has only won in Tuscaloosa one time, a 2004 trip in which the Lou Holtz-led Gamecocks knocked off a Crimson Tide team led by current USC assistant coach Mike Shula.

If the Gamecocks pull the upset this weekend, Shane Beamer will break a tie with Joe Morrison for second on South Carolina football’s all-time list of top-ten wins. Beamer’s other two top-ten wins came in 2022 when the Gamecocks beat Tennessee and Clemson in back-to-back weeks.

Fans can tune in to watch Saturday’s game at Noon ET on ABC, ESPN+, or the ESPN app.

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