South Carolina Football: SEC’s all-time leading passer calls Gamecock legend “scariest defender” he ever faced

If asked to name the greatest players in Gamecock history, South Carolina football fans might debate a little over who is #1, but only five or six would belong in the conversation. Names like George Rogers, Alshon Jeffery, Sterling Sharpe, and Connor Shaw come to mind on the offensive side of the ball.

On Monday, one of the defensive GOATs in USC history received some love from one of his biggest competitors.

In honor of Halloween, in a conversation with SECNetwork’s Chris Doering about the scariest defenders in SEC history, Aaron Murray, the SEC’s all-time leading passer, said that Jadeveon Clowney was the choice.

When Doering asked Murray about the scariest defender he played against, Murray briefly mentioned Auburn’s Nick Fairly, but he spent the majority of his time reminiscing about the intimidating presence that was Jadeveon Clowney in garnet and black.

According to Murray, Clowney’s dominance was so impactful that it felt like #7 sacked him 100 times in his career.

While 100 is a bit of an exaggeration, Clowney did sack Murray five times over three matchups, including a ragdoll-esque forced fumble that helped seal the Gamecocks’ victory over the ‘Dawgs in 2011.

Murray also remembered a freakish effort from Clowney in 2012 in which he hurdled Georgia running back Keith Marshall and ruined a Georgia play. That actually happened five or six times in South Carolina football’s blowout of the Bulldogs that night. Clowney forced multiple quick incompletions as Murray admitted to fearing the “giant human flying through the air” toward him.

The Georgia legend’s pick of Clowney comes as no surprise to fans of the Bulldogs and Gamecocks. Back in 2013, after two years of already being tormented by Clowney, Murray told reporters that he sometimes had nightmares about Clowney chasing him. The comments could have been taken slightly tongue-in-cheek, but there was a little bit of truth to Murray’s words.

SECNetwork analysts Peter Burns and Chris Doering added Patrick Willis (Ole Miss) and Melvin Johnson (Kentucky) to the discussion, as well, but there’s no question that the scariest sight, maybe of all-time, for opposing offenses was seeing Jadeveon Clowney lined up against them.