On the same night Auburn called its fans out, Muschamp was praising the USC faithful
Each week after a South Carolina football game — win or lose — Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp throws praise the way of USC’s fans.
This weekend was a spot where the Gamecock faithful could have taken a step back. Vanderbilt is hardly an inspiring opponent, and the team is coming off a disheartening upset loss against Tennessee to reduce bowl hopes to just a glimmer.
Muschamp saw something else.
“It was an unbelievable crowd,” Muschamp said. “It starts in Gamecock Walk, unbelievable crowd, six, eight people deep. We’ve had a season that hasn’t gone exactly the way we wanted it to and I can’t thank our fans enough. Unbelievable, our players appreciate it I appreciate it. The best I’ve ever been, anywhere I’ve ever been, as far as the support and the passion they have for us and support for us and making a difference on game day and just absolutely amazing.”
The Gamecock Walk was dense with humanity, with a perhaps surprising number of fans lining up early coming off a bad loss.
The announced attendance of 71,945 wasn’t too high, and one could see the empty spots on west and south sides of Williams-Brice Stadium. But there was noise and buzz for most of the game. There were also boos on a third and 1 jet sweep as well as a third and 22 draw in Vanderbilt territory
That stands in stark contrast to what was happening on the Plains in Auburn.
In the midst of an uninspiring slugfest between the Tigers and Ole Miss, fans started emptying out as the temperature started dropping. It was noticeable enough a cadre of Auburn players took to social media to voice their displeasure.
USC’s game against Vanderbilt won’t win any beauty contests, but folks still got loud, even in the waning moments.
As usual, Muschamp’s praise of the fans ended with a request. Next week is another night game and promises to be cold. It will present an unusual sort of senior night, one two weeks earlier than usual, replacing the traditional pre-Clemson FCS game.
The Gamecocks get an Appalachian State team coming off its first loss and will try to move within one game of bowl eligibility.
“We need it again next week,” Muschamp said. “It’s senior night. We’ve got a bunch of guys that mean an awful lot to this program and personally to me. We need to support them and send them out the right way and I know that our crowd will be there to support us.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2019 at 11:52 AM.
