South Carolina Football: The 5 Best Individual Seasons to Not End in a Heisman
By Jacob Elsey
STERLING SHARPE (1986)
Sterling Sharpe’s 1986 season was a record-breaking one for the South Carolina football program. It was also among the tops in the NCAA that year.
The junior wide receiver posted 74 catches for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns, finishing in the top five nationally in all three categories. He also acted as the team’s punt and kick returner, on his way to earning All-America honors.
Unfortunately, the Gamecocks went 3-6-2 that year, and were not nationally relevant. There wasn’t a wide receiver to break the top 10 in the Heisman voting and Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde took home the award by a landslide.
Sharpe left South Carolina as the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, two records that have since been broken. He was the first Gamecock receiver to ever top 1,000 yards in a season, and is responsible for the longest play in program history, a 104-yard kick return against Duke in 1985. His No. 2 jersey was retired following his senior season.