USC-UNC 1981 shocker: How the Gamecocks staged an ultimate upset in Chapel Hill

Rivalries make for memories, and South Carolina fans can look to their 2023 season-opening opponent, North Carolina, with visions of some triumphs to savor dancing in their dreams.

Those of the garnet-and-black persuasion remember 1968 and the Miracle at Chapel Hill. Down 24 points after three quarters and winning? Who would believe that? But fairy tales can come true and provided an omen for the ACC title that would follow a year later.

Of more recent vintage, the Gamecocks relish the bowl victory that ended with their coach receiving a celebratory mayonnaise bath. The scene holds a special place in the hall of memories.

Most of all, though, there’s 1981. Yes, the year after George Rogers’ Heisman campaign and not long after a dreadful loss to Pittsburgh, the Gamecocks staged an upset for the ages.

“One-sided,” the pundits decided in previewing that USC-UNC game on Oct. 24, 1981. And why not? The Gamecocks owned a 4-3 record with no wins of particular distinction and faced the 6-0 Tar Heels, who had outscored their foes 258-48 and were ranked third in the nation.

And the prognosticators turned out to be correct about the score, but not about the winning team.

South Carolina 31, North Carolina 13 — and the margin did not reflect the Gamecocks’ dominance.

The best games, the best memories are like that one, bolts out of the blue that defy all logic and reason with results that no one could realistically anticipate.

The best games that create head-scratching puzzles adopt the theme that Oscar Hammerstein II produced in these haunting lyrics from “South Pacific”: Who can explain it? Who can tell you why?

Two words — Gordon Beckham — start to answer those question, but there’s more, a lot more.

Everything goes right for the Gamecocks

Never before had the Gamecocks defeated a team ranked that high in the Top 25 and only once since, a 35-21 triumph over No. 1 Alabama in 2010, has Carolina knocked off a foe with a loftier spot in the polls.

In looking back at the score that shocked the college football world, Dominique Blasingame said, “Gordon Beckham played the game of his life.”

J.D. Fuller echoed the thought, saying, “Gordon Beckham played a perfect game.”

Yes and yes. A junior quarterback, Beckham completed his first 14 passes and 16 of 17 for the game. Coming in, he had connected on 51 percent of his throws.

Then, there’s Johnnie Wright’s 115 rushing yards and DeWayne Chivers’ seven receptions and a defense that forced five turnovers and the linebacking corps of Fuller and James Seawright wreaking havoc. Throw in Emanuel Weaver and Phil Ellis leading the defensive front and that’s a victory recipe.

“We had a couple of things going for us,” said Fuller, now a Rock Hill resident who is a financial planner in Charlotte. “First, we had great game plans, both on offense and defense. And we had some players back who had been injured.

“We really felt we had a shot (at winning), and I remember coming to the sidelines after our first defensive series and telling (teammates), ‘We’re going to take these guys today.’ ”

Blasingame, then a sophomore fullback and now a school resource officer for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, said the Gamecocks went to Chapel Hill “with nothing to lose and we played free and loose.”

Indeed, the Gamecocks had bounced back from the Pittsburgh loss with two straight victories, and, Blasingame said, “We had everything clicking. We didn’t do anything different; everything just came together.”

North Carolina offensive guard Dave Drechsler offered this explanation in postgame interviews: “They came to play. Their X’s beat our O’s. Simple as that.”

And this from UNC quarterback Ron Elkins in a 2007 interview: “They smoked us.”

The game’s first few minutes set the tone. The Gamecocks drove 80 yards to take a 7-0 lead with their opening possession with Beckham connecting on all three of his passes. A sack and forced fumble ended UNC’s next possession.

USC led 21-7 in the third quarter before a 70-yard run off a fake punt gave the Tar Heels a glimmer of hope. But the Gamecocks scored the final 10 points to end all doubts.

“I made 18 tackles and (Seawright) made a bunch and intercepted a pass,” Fuller said. “I had played against (UNC quarterback) Rod Elkins in the Shrine Bowl and got a sack on him that day in ’81 I came on a blitz and I missed him. I looked around and he still had the ball, and I came back and got him.”

Perhaps that play summed up the game.

An improbable win

In postgame interviews, Beckham noted how the Tar Heels played man-to-man coverage on receivers, pressing close to the line of scrimmage. After some successful short routes, the defenders edged nearer and ...

“We checked off and got the ball downfield,” he said afterward, completing deep balls to Horace Smith and Ira Hilliary. “I took the short game when they gave it to us, and when they moved up, we went long.

“I was fortunate. The offensive line gave me all the time I needed.”

Fuller again: “We didn’t do anything special. We knew they would just try to come out and knock us off the ball. But that’s the kind of game we liked. We had some of the best defensive linemen in the country.”

Perhaps most of the 50,500 spectators felt “the Gamecocks deserved a standing ovation for showing up ... (but those) who cheer for the garnet and black will always enjoy how the Gamecocks not only showed up, but also what they did after that,” Herman Helms wrote in The State.

Obviously, the Gamecocks had a good thing going, and they stretched their winning streak to four games by beating North Carolina State 20-12 a week later.

With two of the three remaining games — Pacific and Hawaii — looking “winnable” and a chance to wreck Clemson’s undefeated season, opportunity for a special finish loomed.

Alas, the music stopped. Injuries piled up.

Losses did, too. South Carolina lost three of four and finished 6-6.

But the Gamecocks will always have Oct. 24, 1981, and a dominating victory over the nation’s No. 3 team to have and to hold dear.

So improbable, so unexpected and then so real — and those are the best kind.

USC Gamecocks 1981 schedule, scores

Sept. 5: at Wake Forest (W 23-6)

Sept. 12: vs. Ole Miss (L 20-13)

Sept. 19: vs. Duke (W 17-3)

Sept. 26: at Georgia (L 24-0)

Oct. 3: vs. Pitt (L 42-28)

Oct. 10: at Kentucky (W 28-14)

Oct. 17: vs. Virginia (W 21-3)

Oct. 24: at North Carolina (W 31-13)

Oct. 31: N.C. State (W 20-12)

Nov. 7: vs. Pacific (L 23-21)

Nov. 21: vs. Clemson (L 29-13)

Dec. 5: at Hawaii (L 33-10)

Best wins in South Carolina history

Oct. 9, 2010: vs No. 1 Alabama — 35-21

Oct. 24, 1981: at No. 3 North Carolina — 31-13

Oct. 12, 2019: at No. 3 Georgia — 20-17

Sept. 26, 2009: vs. No. 4 Ole Miss — 16-10

Oct. 6, 2012: vs. No. 5 Georgia — 35-7

Oct. 26, 2013: at No. 5 Missouri — 27-24

Nov. 19, 2022: vs. No. 5 Tennessee — 63-38

Sept. 24, 1988: vs. No. 6 Georgia — 23-10

Nov. 30, 2013: at No. 6 Clemson — 31-17

Sept. 13, 2014: vs No. 6 Georgia — 38-35