The Gamecocks of 1984: In Their Own Words

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The year was 1984, Cindy Lauper’s ‘Time After Time,’ was climbing the charts, Ronald Reagan was President and ‘The Black Magic’ squad had capitvated Columbia. “It wasn’t supposed to happen, Coach Morrison wore black a lot and we had black uniforms and someone dubbed us black magic because it wasn’t supposed to happen,” says Carl Hill, All American 1984. The team, led by Coach Joe Morrison, is legendary in Gamecock nation. Until last year, they were the only team to ever win 10 games. “We took advantage of a town and an environment that was hungry for a win,” says Hill. Hill was part of the team’s ‘Fire Ant Defense,’ that swarmed every opponent. “Nobody thought we were going to do what we did, I don’t think we thought as a team, thought we would do what we did,” says Mike Hold, Quarterback 1984. And then there was Navy, when Carolina lost. “I don’t think there was a person out there who didn’t pick us to win that game,” says Hold Hold says to this day he still thinks about that game. “The Orange Bowl was there ready to give us the bid to the Orange Bowl, Nebraska had lost that day and we just…. it’s hard to explain,”says Hold. In a nutshell, their legendary season was over. The Gamecocks would win just one more regular season game. “I don’t think if we hadn’t beat Clemson that year that the 10-1 season would be remembered like it is,” says Hold. Crandall Sims reporting, “Fast forward 28 years and this playing field has changed, so has the stadium. On any given Saturday when the Gamecocks are at home 80,000 fans pack these stands… but there’s a new team in town and they’re re-writing the history books. Today, the team is 6-0 and for the first time since 1984, they’re ranked #3. “We’re comparing this to a season I was a part of and they are surpassing everything we did,” says Hold. Today, Maroon 5 is topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart, President Obama is in the White House and ‘Sandstorm’ takes over Williams Brice. But one thing that has stayed the same, even 28 years later, the eagerness to win.