10 best Georgia natives to play football for South Carolina
South Carolina has 27 players from Georgia on its roster, which means 25 percent of the team’s 109-man roster hails from the Peach State.
“Georgia is an excellent recruiting state,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “As we all know, the state of Georgia plays high school football about as well as anybody in the country, and they have a lot of players. They all can’t go in state. We have been able to recruit very well throughout Georgia the last several years.”
Gamecocks freshman center Alan Knott, a native of Tyrone, Ga., made the first start of his collegiate career last week against East Carolina, but says, “this is still going to definitely be a bigger game for me.”
“It’s always going to be way more juice for me this week,” Knott said.
Place-kicker Elliott Fry -- a Frisco, Texas, native – remembers how he felt playing Texas A&M in the season opener and has seen that same look on the faces of his teammates from Georgia this week, he said.
“That was extra special for me,” he said. “I know there are a bunch of Georgia guys, some of them may take it personally. I think the guys from Georgia guys probably get a little more excited about it.”
Having Georgia natives on the roster is nothing new for the Gamecocks. In fact, some of the most famous names in the school’s gridiron history grew up just west of the state line. Here’s our list of the 10 best Georgia natives to play football for South Carolina:
JASPER BRINKLEY
LB, 2006, 2008, Thomson, Ga. ... A junior college transfer, Brinkley had 85 unassisted tackles in 2006, the second-highest single-season total in school history and finished his brief career with 193 stops.
BOBBY BRYANT
DB, 1964-1967, Macon, Ga. ... A member of the Carolina Hall of Fame who played football and baseball, Bryant was a first-team All-America who still holds the record for longest punt return in school history (98 yards).
MIKE DAVIS
RB, 2012-present, Atlanta ... Owner of the fourth-best rushing season in school history with 1,183 yards last season, Davis has a career rushing average of 5.7 yards per carry, the best in school history among players with more than 1,000 career yards.
BILLY GAMBRELL
TB/DB, 1960-1962, Athens, Ga. ... The man Dan Reeves called “the best all-around athlete” he ever played with, Gambrell was All-ACC in 1961 and 1962 while playing offense and defense.
KENNY MCKINLEY
WR, 2005-2008, Austell, Ga. ... The only South Carolina player to catch more than 200 passes (207 to be exact) in his career, McKinley was a Steve Spurrier favorite who had 2,781 career yards.
ERIC NORWOOD
LB, 2006-2009, Acworth, Ga.
The school’s all-time tackles-for-loss leader with 54.5, Norwood has more quarterback sacks than any Gamecock in history (29) and is seventh all-time in unassisted tackles (175).
DAN REEVES
QB, 1962-1964, Americus, Ga. ... A brainy signal-caller, Reeves went on to more fame as a professional football player. He appeared in more Super Bowls (as a player, assistant coach and head coach) than any one in history.
GEORGE ROGERS
RB, 1977-1980, Duluth, Ga. ... The Heisman Trophy winner in 1980, Rogers rushed for 5,204 yards in his career, more than 2,000 yards more than anyone in school history.
STERLING SHARPE
WR, 1983, 1985-1987, Glennville, Ga. ... The third-leading receiver in school history, Sharpe is poised to enter the College Football Hall of Fame after a career in which he caught 169 passes for 2,497 yards.
CONNOR SHAW
QB, 2010-2013, Flowery Branch, Ga. ... The school’s all-time winningest quarterback with 27 wins, Shaw left Columbia last year fourth in career passing yards with 6,074 to go along with 56 touchdown passes, second-most in school history.
This story was originally published September 11, 2014 at 9:00 PM with the headline "10 best Georgia natives to play football for South Carolina."