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South Carolina football: top rated players on NCAA video game series

By Jacob Elsey

COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 17: Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney #7 of the South Carolina Gamecocks chases quarterback Kriss Proctor #2 of Navy Midshipmen September 17, 2011 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 17: Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney #7 of the South Carolina Gamecocks chases quarterback Kriss Proctor #2 of Navy Midshipmen September 17, 2011 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images) /
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South Carolina football’s top players on the NCAA video game series.

EA Sports announced the revival of its NCAA Football video game series last week, which caused jubilation for middle aged men across the country. The game has been on hiatus since 2014, when legal battles began to arise on paying college athletes for their likeness.

The NCAA and EA Sports have come to an agreement with member institutions that allows them to once again use teams and logos, but it will not have players that resemble the likeness or names of current athletes, which does cause the game to lose some of its shine. Still, the announcement of the series reboot has taken a cult-like following by storm.

With that said, we started thinking about the top players to ever be starred in the EA Sports game series. Some are a no brainers, while others are a bit surprising. Let’s run through the best Gamecocks to be featured in NCAA Football.

The game identifies top players as those with at least an 88 rating. There are 26 players between 2000 and 2014, the game’s last season, to achieve this rating while playing for the Gamecocks.

Rating 88-92

QB: Stephen Garcia (’12), Connor Shaw (’13, ’14), Dylan Thompson (’14)

RB: Corey Boyd (’06), Mike Davis (’09)

WR: Kenny McKinley (’09)

OL: Justin Sorensen (’09), Brock Stadnik (’13), Ronald Patrick (’13)

DL: Eric Norwood (’09), Jadeveon Clowney (’13)

LB: Rodney Paulk (’09)

DB: Fred Bennett (’07), Carlos Thomas (’09), Stephon Gilmore (’12)

Interesting notes

  • The Gamecocks had three quarterbacks rated in the 88-89 range over the game’s last three seasons of existence.
  • The ’09 edition featured six players in this rating range, the most of any year in the game’s history.
  • Jadeveon Clowney was a top 5 DE in the ’13 edition.

Rating 93-98

QB: none

RB: Marcus Lattimore (’12, ’13)

WR: Sidney Rice (’07), Alshon Jeffery (’12)

OL: none

DL: none

LB: Ricardo Hurley (’06), Jasper Brinkley (’08, ’09)

DB: Ko Simpson (’06), DJ Swearinger (’13)

Interesting notes

  • Marcus Lattimore was twice considered the game’s second best running back, earning ratings of 95 and 97 in back to back seasons.
  • Alshon Jeffery was the game’s second best wideout in the 2013 edition.
  • Middle lineback Jasper Brinkley twice earned a 95+ rating.
  • Ko Simpson was the game’s top rated safety in the 2006 game edition.

The 99 Club

Jadeveon Clowney (’14)

Only one former Gamecock is a member of the coveted “99 Club,” and it comes as no surprise that it’s Jadeveon Clowney. In the latest edition of the game, 2014, Clowney is the top rated player in all of college football. This comes the season after his infamous hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith, and a year where Clowney recorded 13 sacks, 22.5 tackles for loss, was named an All-American, and finished sixth in the Heisman voting.

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