South Carolina Football: Ranking the top-15 offensive performances in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 2 Greatest Offensive Performance of All-Time:
Connor Shaw and Bruce Ellington vs. Wisconsin
In what was his last game in garnet and black, Connor Shaw went out with a bang. The greatest quarterback in program history never lost at home (17-0 at Williams-Brice), never lost to Clemson, and never lost in bowl games (3-0). Leading Carolina to three straight 11-win seasons, Shaw and the South Carolina football team were taking on the Wisconsin Badgers in the Capital One Bowl.
Against the Badgers, Shaw was 22-25 through the air for a 88% completion rate (and one pass was dropped) and racked up 312 yards passing and 3 scores. On the ground, the mobile signal caller picked up 47 yards, including four first-down conversions and a touchdown. A former wide receiver in high school, Shaw even caught a 9-yard touchdown from high school quarterback Bruce Ellington to bring his total to 5 scores on the day.
368 yards and 5 touchdowns isn’t a bad way to go out, but the Capital One Bowl explosion also served as a snapshot of a fantastic career that may never be matched. Bruce Ellington’s day (also his final chapter as a Gamecock) was pretty special, too. The converted basketball star went off for 132 yards receiving and two scores plus the 9-yard passing touchdown to Shaw.