South Carolina Gamecocks Football Countdown: 79 Days

Our countdown to the 2014 college football season continues as just 79 days separate us from kickoff between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies at Williams-Brice Stadium on August 28.

Who Wears #79?
No one wears the number 79 this year on their jersey (nor has anyone worn this number in any recent years that I could find). So I’ll instead briefly give you highlights from the 1979 Gamecock team and some other highlights from the year 1979 as well.

Gamecocks football in 1979

The 1979 season was a good season for the Gamecocks, only losing to North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida State; they had a five game winning streak that included Western Michigan, Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss, followed by a three game streak against North Carolina State, Wake Forest and the regular season finale hosting Clemson with a 13-9 victory. They then went on to the Hall of Fame Classic Bowl Game in Birmingham, Alabama, to play future SEC foe Missouri, losing 24-12.

Record: 8-4
Conference: Independent
Head Coach: Jim Carlen in his 5th season
Bowl Game: Hall of Fame Classic

Also in 1979:
AT&T initiated the long used slogan, “Reach out and touch someone”.
Coca-Cola initiated their “Have a Coke and a smile” marketing campaign.
NASA’s Skylab fell to Earth.
52 Americans were taken hostage in Tehran, Iran for 444 days.
The Walkman cassette/radio made its first appearance.
The number 1 song was “My Sharona” by Knack.