South Carolina Football: 11 Biggest Villains in Gamecock History
By Jacob Elsey
THE COLQUITT BROTHERS
For eight straight seasons, Tennessee punters Britton and Dustin Colquitt terrorized Gamecock squads. It’s not often that punters influence the outcome of a game, but between 2001-2008, it seemed to happen more often than not for South Carolina when they faced the Volunteers. Maybe it’s due to the matchup typically being played on Halloween weekend. Whatever the cause, games between Tennessee and South Carolina have always been a little strange.
Dustin was the first on board, starting as Volunteer punter from 2001-2004. In that span, Tennessee won all four matchups versus the Gamecocks, and the special teamer was a huge reason why. He punted 22 times in those games, for a total of 958 yards. That’s a 44-yard per punt average.
In the ’02 season matchup at Neyland Stadium, a 23-20 overtime win for the Vols, Colquitt punted seven times, averaging 52 yards a punt, and pinning the Gamecocks inside their own 20-yard line on four occasions. One of those was a 63-yarder that landed on the Gamecock 2-yard line. He was Tennessee’s player of the game and would go on to be a third-round pick in the ‘05 NFL draft.
Just when Gamecock fans thought they were through dealing with the Colquitts, Dustin’s brother, Britton, came to campus. He would be the starter from 2005-2008, picking up right where the elder sibling left off.
Britton punted 26 times in his four games against the Gamecocks, totaling 1,100 yards, an average of 42 yards per punt. As a freshman, he pinned the Gamecocks inside their own 20-yard line on four of his six punts. The Gamecocks escaped with a one-point win on a late field goal in Knoxville.
The next season was more of the same, pinning Carolina down 3-out-of-5 times, with a long of 57 yards. The Vols would win by a touchdown. And as a junior, Colquitt again forced the Gamecocks start inside their own 20-yard line on 4-of-6 punts. The Vols would win another overtime thriller 23-20.
Britton soon moved on to the NFL, following the footsteps of his brother, father, and uncle. South Carolina fans were not at all upset to see the brothers leave.