South Carolina Football: Ranking the top-10 defensive performances in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 3 Greatest Defensive Performance of All-Time:
Eric Norwood vs. Kentucky
In South Carolina’s only top-12 matchup ever against Kentucky, the unbeaten and 8th-ranked Wildcats came to Williams-Brice Stadium looking to grab a stranglehold on the SEC East with a win over the 11th-ranked Gamecocks. As it turned out, the efforts of one particular Gamecock made sure that didn’t happen.
Eric Norwood, a sophomore EDGE rusher, didn’t have a sack but still put together one of the best defensive days in Carolina history. Norwood logged a modest five tackles, but one of those tackles came for a loss against South Carolina native Rafael Little. He also knocked away two passes, one in coverage and another at the line of scrimmage.
Five tackles, one for a loss, and two pass breakups is a good day but not particularly note-worthy on its own. However, the defensive end/linebacker made some college football history when he became the first player to ever score two touchdowns on fumble recoveries in the same game.
On UK quarterback Andre Woodson’s first dropback of the game, he was sacked by Cliff Matthews and Jonathan Williams but fumbled the ball back toward his own end zone. Norwood raced over for the short scoop and score to give Carolina the lead. Then, in the 3rd quarter, Casper Brinkley was sacking Woodson when he inexplicably threw the ball out toward his receiver. The “pass” was behind the line of scrimmage, and Norwood picked it up and outraced the ‘Cats to score the 50-yard TD.
The Gamecocks went on to win the game by two touchdowns.