‘Miracle at Mizzou’: The night Connor Shaw rescued the Gamecocks

By Friday of Missouri week last year, Connor Shaw had reluctantly given up on playing, and that was before he vomited a half-dozen times later that day and into Saturday.

South Carolina’s all-time winningest quarterback, who ended his Gamecock career last season with a 27-5 career record, was coming off a knee sprain suffered the previous week against Tennessee, and coach Steve Spurrier told him Friday that Dylan Thompson would start the game.

On the plane flight to Columbia, Mo., Shaw developed flu-like symptoms that induced nausea and required him to receive four bags of I.V. fluids on Friday and Saturday. He missed all the team’s pregame meetings and meals but dressed in full uniform and dragged himself onto the field for warmups without any expectation of stepping on the field once the game began.

“To this day, it is the worst I have ever felt,” Shaw told The State on Tuesday.

That’s when Spurrier gave him his first idea that he might actually play that day.

“Coach Spurrier right before kickoff came up to me and gave me a little fist bump and said, ‘You never know Connor. This might be your night,’ ” Shaw said.

What happened next has a special place in South Carolina football history and even a nickname – “The Miracle at Mizzou.” Thompson and the entire Gamecocks offense struggled through nearly 40 minutes of action that night, while Shaw silently stalked Spurrier on the sideline, helmet on and chinstrap buckled.

“Just in case,” he said.

With 6:26 left in the third quarter and the No. 20 Gamecocks trailing the No. 5 Tigers 17-0, the time came to break the “In Case of Emergency” glass.

“I could feel the team deflating a little bit,” Shaw said. “Things just weren’t happening for us. I felt like the team needed a spark, and Coach Spurrier felt that way as well and asked me if could play, and I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He said, ‘Alright, we’ve got to do it now, go warm up.’ I went in the next series.”

By that time, his various ailments were an afterthought, he said.

“When your name is called, you have so much adrenaline going that you find a way to make it happen,” Shaw said.

Spurrier was less upset by Thompson’s play than looking for a spark for his team, he said.

“We thought we might as well give Connor a chance and see if something different would happen and we were extremely fortunate,” Spurrier said.

South Carolina converted a third-and-9, third-and-22, third-and-19 and fourth-and-15 (for the game-tying touchdown in overtime) after Shaw came into the game.

“I could just tell there was life in our offense again, life in the defense,” said Shaw, who accepts some of the credit for that.

“I think (my entry) had a little bit to do with it,” he said. “I think I proved to myself that I could play injured before. I guess the players just kind of feed off that. You see your leader battling out there and doing everything he can, they start to buy in as well, and I think that’s what happened.”

The Gamecocks outgained Missouri 252 yards to 85 yards and outscored the Tigers 27-7 after Shaw entered the game on the way to a 27-24 double-overtime victory that sparked a six-game winning streak to end the season.

“I thought coach (Spurrier) made a great decision last year,” Thompson said. “Obviously, you saw the result of that. We won, and that’s the goal. I always tell Connor I helped the Legend of Connor Shaw that night.”

When Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett missed what would have been the game-tying, 24-yard field goal off the left upright in the second overtime, Missouri’s Faurot Field went silent and Shaw went nuts.

“I hardly remember a whole lot of the game itself just because I was in a zone I guess, a lot of adrenaline pumping, but I remember as soon as the game was over, I felt like the biggest burden was released off my shoulders,” he said. “It was an incredible feeling. I can remember going to grab the Mayor’s Cup, sprinting to our fans. It was just an incredible feeling. Having the guys lift me up and carry me off the field is something I will cherish forever.”

He ranks the game his third favorite as a collegian, behind a 31-17 win against Clemson in his final game in Williams-Brice and a 34-24 win against Wisconsin in his final game at South Carolina. It took its toll, though. He can still remember how awful he felt when the team returned to the Columbia airport the night of the game.

“I was so drained and sick. I can remember being totally wiped,” he said. “I gave everything I had in that game.”

Shaw, who is now on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad, will return to Williams-Brice Stadium for the first time since his last game as a player Saturday and will be recognized on the field during the game.

“Is he going to suit up?” Thompson asked with a smile. “I’m sure the fans will love that.”

Thompson joked the crowd should give the usually stoic Shaw a standing ovation because “he loves attention.”

“I’m super pumped about it,” Shaw said. “I am really looking forward to it. And for it to be the Missouri game, too…”

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 10:27 PM.