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UNC delays USC series
Tar Heels opt to face LSU in Atlanta in 2010 but will face Gamecocks soon
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier
Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com /Erk Campos
Written by JOSEPH PERSON
jperson @thestate.com
Posted on 07.29.09
CommentsThe next battle for football supremacy in the Carolinas looks like it will be put on hold for a couple of years.
South Carolina athletics director Eric Hyman will allow North Carolina out of its 2010 game in Columbia, but only if the Tar Heels agree to make up the game in the “very near future” and a suitable replacement is found for next year’s schedule.
ESPN officials contacted Hyman several months ago to see if he would be amenable to letting North Carolina out of the second game of its home-and-home deal with USC so the Tar Heels and LSU could meet in the Georgia Dome the opening weekend of the 2010 season.
In exchange, ESPN told Hyman it would televise the Gamecocks’ 2010 opener on Thursday night as the first game of the season against a team the network would line up. Hyman would not identify possible opponents, but said ESPN has a stake in making it an attractive TV matchup.
Hyman said he was willing to work with ESPN, which is beginning the first year of its unprecedented, 15-year deal with SEC worth $2.25 billion.
“We’ve got to do things to help ESPN be successful, and sometimes there are minimal sacrifices,” Hyman said Tuesday. “But I would not reschedule the (North Carolina) game in 2030.”
Hyman, who played football at North Carolina, was presented the game ball by Steve Spurrier after the Gamecocks’ 21-15 win at Chapel Hill in 2007. He made it clear that he wants to be at Williams-Brice Stadium when the Tar Heels return the game.
“The North Carolina game, it was special to me,” Hyman said. “I wouldn’t do this unless North Carolina was going to come back again.”
Under the terms of the contract, North Carolina would owe USC a $750,000 buyout if it does not schedule a makeup game. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 34-17-4.
Though nothing has been finalized, Hyman views the situation as a “win-win” for the Gamecocks, who get a televised Thursday night home game next season and a future home date with the Tar Heels. USC’s Sept. 3 game at N.C. State will mark the fourth time in five years under Spurrier the Gamecocks have opened the season on a Thursday night on ESPN.
In addition, Hyman said USC plans to arrange the 2010 schedule so the Gamecocks have an open date in the middle of the season rather than prior to the Clemson game. The only time USC has beaten Clemson under Spurrier was 2006 when the Gamecocks handled Middle Tennessee 52-7 a week before traveling to Death Valley.
USC has had an open date the week before Clemson each of the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, officials hope to pit North Carolina against LSU in the third edition of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta that sold out its first two matchups - Clemson-Alabama last year and Alabama-Virginia Tech on Sept. 5.
Hyman said he has spoken with Chick-fil-A organizers about the Gamecocks playing in the event, but would consider it only in a year when USC has an eight-game home schedule because he is reluctant to give up the revenues of a home game.
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.
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