South Carolina Football: Ranking the top-10 defensive performances in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 5 Greatest Defensive Performance of All-Time:
James Seawright vs. NC State
The brilliant 1984 season in Columbia was known as “Black Magic,” and the Black Magic season was full of amazing performances and legendary moments. One of the greatest performances of the year came courtesy of senior linebacker James Seawright. Seawright played during the golden era of South Carolina linebackers and may have been the best of the bunch. He displayed why he is in that conversation with a remarkable game against the NC State Wolfpack.
On his way to an All-American honor at the end of the year, Seawright logged an incredible 29 tackles in the game against the Wolfpack. The former ACC rival could not escape Seawright that day. He really had 30 tackles as he was also the man responsible for stopping an NC State 2-point conversion attempt, as well. Even when they tried to throw the ball to neutralize the run-stopping linebacker, #45 swatted away two throws in the passing game.
Seawright’s 29 tackles are a single-game record in South Carolina football history, and the Gamecocks needed every one of his stops as garnet and black was only greater than red and black by one score that day. The win preserved Carolina’s undefeated record as they went on to one of the best seasons (10-2) in program history.