The 2009 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Steve Spurrier, who was in his fifth season at USC. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. Carolina finished the season 7–6, winning the Palmetto Bowl over in-state rival Clemson 34–17 in their final regular season game, before losing in the PapaJohns.com Bowl 20–7 against Connecticut.

South Carolina avoided a repeat of the quarterback controversy from last season, as Stephen Garcia earned a start in every game with "one of the top-five single seasons for a quarterback in Gamecock history". However, the Gamecocks returned very few proven skill players and faced what was called the most difficult schedule in the country. The Gamecocks still won most of the games on that schedule, including two against top-15 teams, though postseason struggles under Spurrier continued.

"Sandstorm" became a phenomenon. The 1999 Finnish trance song was played before two decisive plays during a home game against No. 4 Ole Miss. With these plays, South Carolina sealed a historic upset, their first win against a top-5 team since 1981. After this, "Sandstorm" became cemented with the program and its fans. By 2010, it would be described as South Carolina's "unofficial anthem" and "second fight song".

Despite the 7–6 record and "embarrassing" bowl loss, the upsets over Ole Miss and Clemson have been described as catalysts to the most successful era in program history: an SEC East Championship in 2010 and 11-win seasons in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Each of those years also saw victories over Clemson – South Carolina's longest winning streak in the rivalry.

Preseason On April 11, 2009, the Garnet squad defeated the Black squad, 30–14, in the annual Garnet & Black Spring Game, in front of a crowd of 25,157. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Stephen Garcia finished the game 13–20 with 144 yards and two touchdowns, while true freshman Jarvis Giles led the ground game with 114 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

Schedule

Schedule notes Carolina's 2009 schedule was rated the toughest in the nation by college football guru Phil Steele. Radio coverage for all games was on the Gamecock Sports Radio Network. The week four game against Ole Miss was played on Thursday, September 24, as part of the ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime package. The week eleven game against Florida on November 14, 2009, featured the Gamecocks wearing special black and desert camouflage uniforms designed by Under Armour in support of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Game summaries

NC State

Georgia

Florida Atlantic

Ole Miss

SC State

Kentucky

Alabama

Vanderbilt

Tennessee

Arkansas

Florida

vs Clemson (rivalry)

Statistics CLEMSC First downs 14 21 Total yards 61–260 80–388 Rushing yards 19–48 58–223 Passing yards 226 175 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 22–42–1 11–22–1 Time of possession 14:09 27:54 Team Category Player StatisticsClemson Passing Kyle Parker 22/42, 212 yards, TD, INT Rushing CJ Spiller 9 carries, 18 yards Receiving Michael Palmer 8 receptions, 106 yards, TDSouth Carolina Passing Stephen Garcia 10/21, 126 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Kenny Miles 17 carries, 114 yards Receiving Alshon Jeffery 4 receptions, 65 yards

Connecticut

Players

Depth chart Projected starters and primary backups versus Clemson on November 28, 2009.

Awards Devin Taylor - SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, 9/7/09;Taylor Named Defensive Lineman of the Week College Football News Third-Team Freshman All-American;Jeffery, Gilmore Named Freshmen All-Americans SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team Jarvis Giles – SEC Freshman of the Week, 9/21/09Giles Named SEC Freshman of the Week Eric Norwood – SEC Defensive Player of the Week, 9/28/09; Butkus Award Finalist;Norwood Named Butkus Finalist First-Team Coaches All-SEC;All-SEC Football Team Announced First-Team AP All-SEC;Norwood Earns First-Team AP All-SEC Honors First-Team ESPN All-SEC;ESPN.com's All-SEC team Walter Camp First-Team All-American; First-Team AP All-American Alshon Jeffery – SEC Freshman of the Week, 10/12/09; College Football News First-Team Freshman All-American;Jeffery, Gilmore Named Freshmen All-Americans SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team; Scout.com Freshman All-American Team;Jeffery, Gilmore Named to Scout.com Freshman All-America Squad FWAA Freshman All-American Team Ladi Ajiboye - SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, 11/30/09 Cliff Matthews – Second-Team Coaches All-SEC;All-SEC Football Team Announced Honorable Mention AP All-SECNorwood Earns First-Team AP All-SEC Honors Chris Culliver – Second-Team AP All-SECNorwood Earns First-Team AP All-SEC Honors Stephon Gilmore – College Football News First-Team Freshman All-American;Jeffery, Gilmore Named Freshmen All-Americans SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year; Scout.com Freshman All-American TeamJeffery, Gilmore Named to Scout.com Freshman All-America Squad T.J. Johnson – SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team

2009 recruiting class

Rankings

Statistics

Scores by quarter

Team USC Opp Scoring 261 245   Points per game 21.8 20.4 First downs 227 188   Rushing 86 97   Passing 125 79   Penalty 16 12 Total offense 4311 3656   Avg per play 5.3 4.8   Avg per game 359.2 304.7 Fumbles-Lost 23-10 16–10 Penalties-Yards 76-654 71-586   Avg per game 54.5 48.8 USC Opp Punts-Yards 62-2594 63–2460   Avg per punt 41.8 39.0 Time of possession/Game 30:54 29:06 3rd down conversions 67/173 63/172 4th down conversions 10/19 6/19 Touchdowns scored 30 29 Field goals-Attempts 17-20 14–21 PAT-Attempts 28-30 27–28 Attendance 527,580 407,469   Games/Avg per Game 7/75,369 5/81,494

Offense

Rushing Name GP-GS Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G Kenny Miles 12-6 111 616 14 602 5.4 1 26 50.2 Brian Maddox 12-5 100 324 19 305 3.0 5 14 25.4 Jarvis Giles 9-0 52 298 21 277 5.3 1 38 30.8 Stephen Garcia 12-12 105 372 242 130 1.2 4 21 10.8 Moe Brown 11-11 5 105 0 105 21.0 0 50 9.5 Bryce Sherman 11-1 7 58 4 54 7.7 0 23 4.9 Patrick DiMarco 12-8 10 31 0 31 3.1 0 7 2.6 Stephon Gilmore 12-12 5 20 0 20 4.0 0 8 1.7 Total   409 1860 360 1500 3.7 11 50 125.0 Opponents   431 1956 312 1644 3.8 15 61 137.0

Passing Name GP-GS Effic Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G Stephen Garcia 12-12 124.5 223-394-9 56.6 2733 17 80 227.8 Reid McCollum 2-0 176.3 4-6-0 66.7 39 1 20 19.5 Total   125.8 228-402-9 56.7 2811 18 80 234.2 Opponents   114.1 183-327-6 56.0 2012 10 69 167.7

Receiving Name GP-GS No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/GAlshon Jeffery 12-6 43 735 17.1 6 80 61.2Moe Brown 11-11 32 479 15.0 3 69 43.5Weslye Saunders 11-9 30 360 12.0 3 30 32.7Tori Gurley 12-5 28 426 15.2 2 44 35.5Jason Barnes 12-6 24 266 11.1 0 22 22.2Brian Maddox 12-5 17 135 7.9 2 24 11.2Kenny Miles 12-6 17 114 6.7 0 20 9.5Patrick DiMarco 12-8 14 78 5.6 1 15 6.5D.L. Moore 12-0 6 61 10.2 1 35 5.1Jarvis Giles 9-0 5 26 5.2 0 12 2.9Dion Lecorn 6-0 4 27 6.8 0 13 4.5Total   228 2811 12.3 18 80 234.2Opponents   183 2012 11.0 10 69 167.7

Defense Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass defense Interceptions Fumbles BlkdKick Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds BrUp QBH No.-Yds Avg TD Long Rcv-Yds FF Total 505 264 769 77-269 27-172 44 29 6-113 18.8 1 54 10-23 13 4

Special teams Name Punting Kickoffs No. Yds Avg Long TB FC I20 Blkd No. Yds Avg TB OBSpencer Lanning 62 2594 41.8 56 8 18 15 0 9 437 48.6 01Adam Yates 48 2963 61.7 1 2 Total 622594 41.856 8 1815 0 57 3400 59.6 1 3

Name Punt returns Kick returns No. Yds Avg TD Long No. Yds Avg TD LongChris Culliver 26 585 22.5 0 61Bryce Sherman 19 409 21.5 0 35Stephon Gilmore 13 148 11.4 0 35 Akeem Auguste 6 17 2.8 0 13 1 15 15.0 0 15 Total 21 177 8.40 35 49 1056 21.6 0 61

Coaching staff Steve Spurrier – Head Coach Ellis Johnson – Assistant Head Coach & Defense Assistant Coach Lorenzo Ward – Defensive Coordinator & Safeties Shane Beamer – Cornerbacks/Special Teams & Recruiting Coordinator Jay Graham – Running Backs Johnson Hunter – Tight Ends Brad Lawing – Defensive Line G. A. Mangus – Quarterbacks Steve Spurrier Jr. – Wide Receivers Eric Wolford – Offensive Line Craig Fitzgerald – Strength

Notes

References