South Carolina Football: Ranking the top plays in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 8 Greatest Play of All-Time:
Phil Petty and Brian Scott’s “The Catch” vs. Georgia
The Situation: South Carolina football was looking for its fifth win ever in Athens (and the second in a row in the rivalry game), but the Bulldogs were a more talented team. The Gamecocks’ offense couldn’t get much going, but the defense was great. With the score standing 9-7 in favor of Georgia with less than 1:30 on the clock, the Gamecocks had the ball inside the 20-yard line courtesy of some Phil Petty brilliance against the blitz.
On 3rd and 10, Carolina took one last shot to the end zone before trying a field goal. Petty faced pressure as he dropped back and just flicked the ball out toward Brian Scott as he was hit (and injured) by future NFL star Will Witherspoon. (In the video clip above, “The Catch” is shown at the 2:40:00 mark).
Impressiveness: “The Catch” was very impressive as Brian Scott had to stop his route, work through the body of Bulldog corner Bruce Thornton (a future NFL player), and snatch the ball from the fingers of Thornton. Then, he had to maintain his body control enough to not fall forward through the contact. Scott managed to get his feet under him just enough to push toward the end zone and cross the goal line.
Impact: “The Catch” gave the Gamecocks back-to-back victories over the ‘Dawgs, a rarity in the history of the rivalry. Carolina used the momentum from the top-10 victory to propel forward to an even better year than the storybook 2000 season as the 9-3 finish was their best in fifteen seasons.
Improbability: The South Carolina offense hadn’t moved the ball well all day against a stingy Georgia defense that was littered with future NFL players, Phil Petty had thrown for under 150 yards heading into that final drive, and Brian Scott had only gotten free for two catches before the final play. Heading into that final drive, the end result seemed almost impossible.