South Carolina Football: Ranking the top plays in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 5 Greatest Play of All-Time:
Melvin Ingram vs. Georgia
The Situation: A big early-season matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens saw the Gamecocks trailing the home team by a score of 13-7. On 4th and 7 from their own 38-yard line, Steve Spurrier elected to try a fake punt, but not just any fake punt. The Gamecocks were putting their fate in the hands of a 270-pound defensive lineman.
Impressiveness: Not many big men can move like Melvin Ingram. #6 was shot out of a cannon but also displayed a few subtle moves with the ball in hands, a clear snapshot of his high school days when he moonlighted as a running back. Ingram gave a mini hurdle to get through traffic at the line of scrimmage and then put a quick move on the Bulldog returner Brandon Boykin.
Impact: A huge play in a game that saw the Carolina offense struggle in the first half, the punt return gave the Gamecocks a needed score and some more-needed confidence. Second-half scoring picked up significantly, and the visiting Gamecocks pulled off a win that fed into the first 11-win season in South Carolina football history.
Improbability: After scouring the internet, there do not appear to be any other 270-pound defensive linemen who have taken a fake punt over 60 yards for a score. Broadcast partners Sean McDonough and Chris Spielman couldn’t believe Ingram could have possibly been the ball carrier on the play and kept trying to give credit to DeAngelo Smith (also #6 for South Carolina football). Eventually, they learned it really was big Melvin, no matter how improbable it may have seemed.