South Carolina football changed forever when Ole Miss last visited

September 24, 2009 might not be a date that stands out to most people. To South Carolina football fans, though, that Thursday night 15 years ago was significant.

In what was the team’s fourth game, Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks welcomed the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels to Williams-Brice Stadium. It would soon become one of the most famous games in program history.

On the backs of a ferocious group of Gamecocks on the defensive side of the football, Carolina dominated a game that felt much more lopsided than its 16-10 final score would indicate.

With the 2024 version of the South Carolina football team getting ready to play against the Rebs in Columbia for the first time since that 2009 contest, a look back at that historic day is worth a trip down memory lane for Gamecocks everywhere.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Ole Miss football game]

Houston Nutt’s team entered their final game of September undefeated. The Rebels had their eyes set on an SEC Championship and a long list of accolades for quarterback Jevan Snead. Both of those hopes disappeared on George Rogers Boulevard that night.

Pass rusher Eric Norwood broke the school record for sacks with his 27th career QB stop on the opening series. Ole Miss later took a 3-0 lead in the 1st quarter following a Carolina turnover, but the Gamecocks stifled the Rebels for seven drives in a row during the 2nd and 3rd quarters while also scoring four times (three Spencer Lanning field goals and a Patrick DiMarco touchdown reception).

Holding on to a 16-3 lead, the USC defense suffered their only bust of the day. Snead found Markeith Summers for a 45-yard score to shift the vibes of the game from comfortable to tight. However, after that touchdown for the visitors, something special happened in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Despite some offensive futility complicating things a bit, the garnet-clad defense bowed their necks and flexed their muscles. Carolina forced a punt on the next drive, and when Snead and the Rebel offense took the field again, a legendary sequence of events changed the South Carolina football program forever.

After a few quick gains pushed the ball to the USC 32-yard line, the crowd in Columbia showed off with one of its loudest stretches ever.

The first 13:20 of the final period saw Ole Miss gain 134 yards (they finished the game with just 238 total), but that positive momentum stopped as a stuffed Wildcat carry and a huge hit by Darian Stewart on a foiled Dexter McCluster reverse pass play netted the Ole Miss offense -3 yards. With the clock ticking and the noise deafening, Nutt was forced to take a timeout. It would be no break for the Rebels.

During the timeout, the gameday media team elected to play a techno song from Finnish DJ, Darude. It wasn’t the first time the crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium had ever heard “Sandstorm,” but the broadcast didn’t cut to commercial, and the Gamecock faithful went absolutely bonkers as the song became a permanent part of the South Carolina football experience in a matter of moments.

Fans were jumping, screaming, cheering, and perhaps praying. The sheer pandemonium in the stadium brought back memories of the old “If it ain’t swayin’, we ain’t playin'” moniker. ESPN’s cameras in the stadium were shaking, and play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler declared that “a rave has broken out in Columbia.”

[Newsletters: Get breaking news and analysis from GamecockCentral]

The birth of “Sandstorm” didn’t just ignite the crowd, though. Gamecock players bounced around with energy throughout the timeout, and the Rebels on the field looked rattled. As the 3rd down play began, it felt as if half the Carolina defense was in immediate pursuit of Snead, and upperclassman pass rusher Cliff Matthews brought the Ole Miss quarterback down behind the line of scrimmage.

Another dose of Darude blasted through the Williams-Brice sound system as the Rebels took their final timeout. The 4th-and-19 try saw Darian Stewart make another play, forcing an incompletion. The game-sealing effort caused Snead’s final line to read an abysmal 7-for-21 for just 107 yards.

Quarterback Stephen Garcia kneeled out the clock, completing just the second top-five victory in Gamecock history. In 2022, head coach Shane Beamer (who was an assistant on the 2009 squad) led the Gamecocks as they knocked off the Tennessee Volunteers for the program’s seventh top-five win.

Though the 2009 season wasn’t one that seemed overly impressive based on wins and losses, it was clear that year that Spurrier’s Gamecocks were close to making their move in the SEC, and the Ole Miss game (and a convincing rivalry win over the Clemson Tigers) provided the chief pieces of evidence.

Following the ’09 campaign, South Carolina went on its best four-year run ever. The Gamecocks won the SEC East the next season in 2010. Then, they earned back-to-back-to-back 11-win seasons from 2011-13. USC won more top-five games from 2009-2013 (4) than every other year combined (3). Many around Columbia believe that run would have never happened without that Thursday night.

The upset win over the Rebels also launched a new era of Gamecock-related music. “Sandstorm” was played more during the 2009 season and became what it is now by the start of 2010.

There will be plenty of “Sandstorm” in Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday as Beamer’s team has a huge opportunity in front of them. The 2024 edition of the Gamecocks and Rebels will kick off at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and streamed on the ESPN app.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!