Third in a series commemorating the 40th anniversary of South Carolina's 1984 "Black Magic" season
Part 1
Part 2
COLUMBIA -- South Carolina won at one of college football's grandest stadiums on Oct. 19.
Forty years ago Oct. 20, South Carolina broke the mold in that category.
"We were very excited, very motivated. We were 5-0 and starting to get a little bit of attention," remembered Eric Poole, a wide receiver on that Gamecocks squad. "It was a pretty cool road trip for me, personally. All the history and the lore and Touchdown Jesus, everything Notre Dame brings to mind when you think about it."
In 1984, the Gamecocks headed to South Bend and Notre Dame Stadium, aiming to keep a perfect season intact. Notre Dame, with the gold helmets and leprechaun. Notre Dame, which gets movies made about its football team.
Notre Dame, which that day, USC beat for the first, and still only, time.
"(Coach Joe Morrison) and (defensive coordinator Tom Gadd) and that crew, we had the mentality of, 'We're not gonna lose, we're gonna find a way to win,'" said Earl Johnson, a senior cornerback. "That was instilled in us the first year they got there."
The buildup
The Gamecocks hosted Notre Dame in 1983 and were pounded 30-6. It was Morrison's first year, but it was the continuation of a series that began a few seasons previous when the Gamecocks twice lost to the Fighting Irish but were close each time (13-6 in 1976, 18-17 in 1979).
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Gerry Faust was in his fourth year as Notre Dame's coach with the Irish starting to realize its boastful mantra of "We don't hire great coaches, we make them" was turning green around the edges. Faust, one of the best high school coaches that ever was, was hired to helm the sport's most notable program without a day's worth of college coaching experience. He was in the middle of three straight winning seasons, but that was in no way good enough.
In 1984, the Irish had lost to Purdue before reeling off three straight wins but were then popped in back-to-back weeks by Miami and Air Force. South Carolina, meanwhile, had begun 5-0, but outside of No. 12 Georgia hadn't beaten anybody of note.
This Notre Dame team would finish 7-5, poor by Irish standards but still a team of future pros. Mark Bavaro. Steve Beuerlein. Tim Brown. Mike Golic. Even the kicker, John Carney, would play in 23 NFL seasons.
"We weren't intimidated. Not at all," Poole said. "It was raining, a sloppy day for football, which played to us. We had that veer offense, and that's not a bad thing when playing up on the road on a wet day. We wanted to churn it out on the ground."
The Irish led 26-14 after three quarters, not helped by four Gamecocks turnovers.
The Comeback Kid rides again
Mike Hold, splitting time at quarterback with Allen Mitchell, had become known as a magic man after he authored the comeback over Georgia. Playing more and more, his minutes at Notre Dame didn't start well, but Morrison turned to him for much of the second half.
Facing fourth-and-2 at the Notre Dame 8-yard line, the Gamecocks called a halfback pass, and Quinton Lewis' throw was intercepted in the end zone. But a pass interference flag wiped out the penalty and gifted USC a first down.
Hold took in the touchdown, and nobody stopped Kent Hagood on a two-point try. It was 26-22. Each team had another turnover before Hold was back under center.
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"We'd been down before. I don't remember any panic whatsoever from players or coaches -- 'Just keep doing your thing. It'll work out,'" Hold said. "I can't stress enough, the senior leadership we had, especially on the offensive line, they would not let us get down in the dumps. They wanted to win bad, man."
And they had a QB who wanted to get them, and the rest of the team, there.
Run block
Third-and-8 at the Notre Dame 33. Nine minutes to go. Hold wanted to throw as he took his seven steps and scanned the field. Protection broke down on the right.
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"It was like the Red Sea parting," Hold said. "So I took off."
Poole, lined up on the right, knew the called play was busted, and his training kicked in.
"I got to go help him," Poole said. "Back then, we were graded on every block, and in the veer, receivers did a lot of blocking. Coach always said in a breakdown, 'Don't stop, don't watch.'"
Hold was running to the left hash. Poole was parallel, maybe a yard ahead of Hold's stride.
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Notre Dame safety Steve Lawrence intercepted 10 passes and recovered nine fumbles during his college career, also distributing his share of rib-rattling tackles. He leaped to the 12-yard line, planting both feet, knees bent, ready to wrap Hold and drive him into the grass.
Hold saw it, pumped his brakes and let Poole do the rest.
Poole never stopped, never watched, never slowed down. Poole sprinted at Lawrence and delivered a textbook block to Lawrence's left shoulder as Hold cut behind the two of them.
Hold was taken down at the goal line but tumbled over with the ball and six points. The Gamecocks led.
"I didn't consider myself a very good technical blocker. I probably wasn't the strongest receiver," Poole said, 40 years later. "But what I did try to do was every time, just put effort into it. A lot of times, it's good enough to just get in the way."
Lean on me
The Gamecocks scored another touchdown when Rick Rabune recovered a fumble deep in Irish territory, putting the offense back on the field so Lewis could take in the touchdown. But the Irish refused to concede, knowing that after Miami and Air Force, they were looking down the barrel of losing three straight home games for the first time in 28 years.
Bueurlein took Notre Dame 83 yards in 3:20. The two-pointer again failed, leaving USC a four-point lead.
The Gamecocks, due to fumble-itis, had to punt from their own end zone, and a high snap sailed off Tom O'Connor's fingertips for a safety. Yet a penalty against the Gamecocks -- illegal procedure with contact before the snap -- gave USC another chance.
O'Connor punted to the USC 47. The Irish had 112 seconds.
Johnson was a veteran corner who had suffered knee injuries in the first game of the 1983 and 1984 seasons, which sapped his playing time. He never could tell when the knee would buckle on him in a game, which also hindered his tenure on USC's track squad (100 meters, 200, 4x100, 4x400).
That day, Johnson also had a dislocated thumb. But he was on the drizzly field, knowing Notre Dame needed a touchdown to win and that Beuerlein would have to throw the ball.
Bavaro dropped a wide-open pass in the middle of the field. Beuerlein tried the sideline next, seeing Joe Howard race to the corner of the end zone.
"I knew they were throwing to him or Bavaro. I slow-backpedaled, then he went deep and I was able to get in front of him," Johnson said. "I was surprised because I was looking up at the ball at first, I had my hand on Howard, and the ball just fell right into my arms. If he had thrown it higher, I probably would have missed it."
Hold knelt out the win, and the Gamecocks were 6-0, the first time they had ever won six straight to start a season. The reception at the Columbia airport upon touchdown was tremendous, still bringing chills four decades later.
And it resonates. Beuerlein played 14 NFL seasons, five with the Carolina Panthers. He retired as a Panther in 2004.
Poole ran into him at a Charlotte dry cleaners soon after. He introduced himself and said, "You know, I played against you in 1984."
Beuerlein asked who Poole played for. Poole responded, "South Carolina."
Beuerlein covered his face with his hands. "Oh, man," he moaned, "y'all broke our hearts."
That was the plan.