Gamecocks’ first bowl win ‘really special’
Reed Morton remembers the photo in USA Today the day after the Carquest Bowl on Jan. 2, 1995. It featured a 5-foot-7, 175-pound kicker crying after South Carolina’s 24-21 victory against West Virginia at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.
“That was me,” Morton said. “It’s just hard to imagine that little 7-5 team in a Carquest Bowl could bring that kind of jubilation. But when you grow up as a little kid and you want to play football for the Gamecocks and you want to do something that’s never been done before, as trivial as it seems today, it was very significant.”
The victory that day was the first in nine bowl games over the long history of the USC program, and it put an exclamation point on the first season under coach Brad Scott.
Boomer Foster, a senior tight end who caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the game, called it a unique moment for a program that was trying to establish its credentials in its third season of SEC play.
“It doesn’t seem like a big deal now to a lot of people having three 11-win seasons in a row (all capped by bowl victories), but it meant everything to Gamecock Nation back then,” Foster said. “They used to talk about the Chicken Curse, and we were the first ones to break through that. Everybody pulled together, and we were able to make it happen.”
Foster served as the point person among the former players in helping organize the 20-year reunion of the 1994 team that takes place this weekend with a dinner at Seawell’s on Friday night and a halftime ceremony Saturday night during the game between USC and Missouri at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Foster, who worked as a lawyer in South Carolina before going to Virginia in 2006 as a regional vice president in the family real estate business, worked with Clyde Wrenn, a special assistant in the Gamecock Club development office, along with the support of athletics director Ray Tanner and football coach Steve Spurrier, to enlist more than 70 former players off the 1994 team to return for the event.
Scott, who now serves in Clemson’s athletics administration, will not be able to attend the reunion because the Tigers play host to North Carolina. But he’s thrilled USC is toasting that team.
“I’m happy for the players and the recognition for that team. I want to thank coach Spurrier and coach Tanner for honoring that ’94 squad that won the bowl game. They’ll always be in the record books,” Scott said. “Looking back 20 years later, the players can appreciate it even more for the success South Carolina has had and knowing that they won the first one.”
The players all talked of the culture change Scott brought into the 1994 season. The program had not won more than six games or been to a bowl game since the 1988 season, and Scott placed that at the top of the expectations list.
“It was a great group of committed players. They worked extremely hard and did everything we asked of them,” Scott said. “I remember the leadership of that senior class was very special. They had a passion for wanting to have that successful season and, especially, the bowl opportunity when it was presented.”
The glow of that win against the Mountaineers remains today. Brandon Bennett, a senior captain on the team and the school’s second all-time leading rusher, understood the significance of finally winning a bowl game after 100 seasons of playing the sport.
“We wanted to be the first team to say that we did it,” said Bennett, who’s now the director of intramural sports for Southside Christian School in the Greenville area. “It was awesome to be able to do that and go out a winner. We did something that no team had ever done at the University of South Carolina. I can’t think of a better way (to have ended my career).”
After an opening 24-21 loss to Georgia, the team reeled off four consecutive victories, with the fourth coming on the road against LSU. But back-to-back shootout losses to East Carolina and Missisippi State followed, and the Gamecocks eventually found themselves at 5-5 and needing a win against Clemson on the road to receive a bowl bid.
What followed was a 33-7 demolition of the Tigers, highlighted by Bennett’s lateral pass to Reggie Richardson on the second-half kickoff that went all the way to the Clemson 6-yard line and set up a Bennett touchdown run.
“It probably wasn’t as close as that score sounded,” Foster said. “The group of seniors I came in with went undefeated at Death Valley, and that was the sweetest part of the season to me. Beating Clemson at their place was a huge deal to all of us.”
Junior quarterback Steve Taneyhill, who’s now the coach at Union County High, still appreciates those victories at LSU and Clemson.
“You win at two Death Valleys in the same season,” Taneyhill said. “Who can say that?”
The Clemson win led to the Carquest Bowl invitation, and the Gamecocks finished strong by knocking off West Virginia. Taneyhill was named the game’s MVP for completing 26-of-36 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for a 4-yard score. Morton drilled a 47-yard field and three extra points. Bennett rushed for 100 yards in his final game as a Gamecock.
Bennett, who went on to play in the NFL, loved the camaraderie on the 1994 team, citing his lasting friendships with Richardson and his fellow captains, receiver Toby Cates and safety Tony Watkins, the team’s leading tackler and All-SEC second-team choice.
Taneyhill, who ranks second in career passing yards in program history as well as first in both completions and touchdown passes, can’t wait for the festivities in Columbia.
“I haven’t seen a lot of guys in 20 years, to be honest. Just to see everybody and catch up – where you live, how many kids, and those types of things – is a neat thing. I’m happy the university decided to do this,” Taneyhill said. “We were on the cutting edge of the SEC stuff, and seeing how the university has grown and the football program has taken off, it’s special that we were a part of it.”
Morton, whose 201 points are fifth in school history, lives in Beaufort and works for a pharmaceutical company. The bowl win remains forever etched in his consciousness.
“So much hard work went into it that, afterward, in the locker room was an experience that I’ll never forget,” Morton said. “I wish I could tell you that I’ve had that feeling again in life, but other than getting married and having my son and daughter come into this world, there really isn’t anything that can compare to watching folks achieve something that we set our minds to do. It was really special.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 8:10 PM.