“My first two years playing here, I wasn’t a starter, but I was still getting a lot of snaps every game because we had a great rotation. “I never had a doubt in my mind that we would be good because we had a great rotation going,” said former defensive lineman Byron Jerideau (2010-2012), who is now an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Gamecocks. Like any team, we were hit with a lot of adversity, but we stayed together. “We lost all of our veterans who had pretty much built this thing from the ground up, but in 2012 we knew the expectation was to win the whole thing,” said former running back Marcus Lattimore (2010-2012). It was about staying healthy, being able to finish games and take one game at a time.” “We thought we could have a pretty big year after that 2011 season. “We lost some great leadership with Stephon (Gilmore), Travian (Robertson) Alshon (Jeffery), and Terrence Campbell, but we knew we had guys who could be themselves and fill in with their talents,” said former linebacker Shaq Wilson (2008-2009, 2011-2012), who is currently a defensive analyst for the Gamecock football program.
Although the Gamecocks lost several key players to graduation and the NFL draft from the previous year’s 11-2 squad, they expected to be just as good, if not better. The 2012 Gamecocks went 11-2 for the second straight season with another impressive bowl win under coach Steve Spurrier.
Ten years ago, South Carolina football enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in program history.