South Carolina Football’s GOAT Series: Top-10 greatest defenses of all-time
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 2 Greatest Defense of All-Time:
2011
The 2011 Gamecocks had three All-Americans on the defense in Stephon Gilmore, Antonio Allen, and Melvin Ingram, a freshman All-American in Jadeveon Clowney, and All-SEC contributors in Travian Robertson, Devonte Holloman, and Devin Taylor. Two all-time greats in Kelcy Quarles and DJ Swearinger also started for the ‘Cocks in 2011, making it the greatest collection of defensive talent to ever play for the University of South Carolina.
The first two games of the season were struggles for the defense as good East Carolina and Georgia squads racked up 79 points against the Gamecocks. Carolina won both those games anyway, and the defense was dominant for most of the rest of the year. Even with the tough start to the year, South Carolina finished 11th nationally in points allowed per game and 1st in the country in defensive points scored as the Gamecocks scored a ridiculous 7 defensive touchdowns on the season (defensive lineman Melvin Ingram scored an additional TD on special teams, too).
An astonishing nine different Gamecocks from the 2011 defense went on to start in the NFL, and several others made a roster. The three future 1st round picks on the defense (Gilmore, Ingram, and Clowney) all made multiple Pro Bowls, and Gilmore could become the first South Carolina football alum to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (or second, pending the Hall of Fame fate of John Abraham). The talent on the 2011 defense was unmatched.