South Carolina and Virginia Tech a once-spirited rivalry

Alan Piercy is the author of A Gamecock Odyssey: University of South Carolina Sports in the Independent Era (1971-1991). The following was originally published on Alan’s South By Southeast newsletter.

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There was a time in the 1980s and early ’90s that Virginia Tech was the closest thing South Carolina had to an all-sports conference rival. The two were football independents at the time – Carolina left the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1971, while Virginia Tech departed the Southern Conference in 1965. Both later joined the Metro Conference in all sports other than football (Tech in 1978, Carolina in 1983). From 1986 through 1991, the programs played annually in football, with the Gamecocks holding a 4-0-2 advantage. 

Going back a little further, the two schools were conference rivals as members of the old Southern Conference from 1922 until 1953, when the Gamecocks left to help form the ACC. The Gamecocks and Hokies faced off seven times between 1925 and 1936 as members of the SoCon, with Carolina holding a 4-3 advantage. Oddly, the programs did not play between 1937 and 1952, despite being in the same conference. 

Overall, South Carolina holds an 11-7-2 advantage across 20 matchups between 1905 and 1991, and there have been a number of memorable games in the rivalry over the years. Here’s a look at a handful of those matchups: 

1905

The Virginia Tech series started in calamitous fashion for South Carolina, a 34-0 loss in Roanoke on Nov. 18, 1905. Despite the defeat, reports from The State noted without critique that Gamecock coach Christie Benet “expressed himself as well pleased with the result of the game,” adding “all of the boys report a pleasant trip and speak in an appreciative manner of their treatment at the hands of the Virginians.” Victorian-era editorializing, it’s safe to say, was a touch more restrained than today’s readers are accustomed to. 

The Gamecocks finished 4-3-1 on the season – a winner, but off pace from the program-best eight-win squad in 1903 – a win total matched only twice over the next eight decades (1979 & 1980), and not eclipsed until the 1984 team won ten games. 

Carolina’s athletic teams had only been known as “Gamecocks” for a few years at that point. It was a trending nickname that became entrenched in university lore following a near-armed riot at the gates of the USC Horseshoe following the 1902 Big Thursday game. 

That incident led to a pause in the Carolina-Clemson rivalry for seven years, finally returning for the 1909 season. Trustees at Carolina banned football altogether in 1906 due to concerns over student safety amid an alarming number of deaths associated with the game. As many as 19 football-related deaths occurred across the country during the 1905 season. 

President Theodore Roosevelt intervened, threatening to shut down college football by executive order unless changes were made. The President, an admirer of the game, sought to save what was good about the sport while heading off a wave of justifiable public concern about the dangers. 

In short order, college administrators formed the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a forerunner to the NCAA, which in turn implemented safety measures and procedural changes, such as the ten-yard rule for first downs, the forward pass, the fair catch, and penalties for holding, tackling below the knee, and unnecessary roughness.

The changes saved college football and introduced the modern game we recognize today. 

1934

Before it was rechristened Williams-Brice Stadium in 1971, the Gamecocks’ football home was known as Carolina Stadium. But the ballpark originally debuted as Columbia Municipal Stadium on Oct. 6, 1934, in a 22-6 Gamecock win over Virginia Military Institute. Following a subsequent Big Thursday loss against Clemson, the third-ever game played at what would become Williams-Brice was a bounce-back win over Virginia Tech. 

Coach Billy Laval’s Gamecocks were defending Southern Conference co-champions that season, having finished 1933 undefeated in SoCon play at 3-0, though history reflects Duke as the official SoCon champ with a 4-0 mark. 

Estimated paid attendance was around 4,500 in the 17,600-seat stadium, though probably closer to 5,000, “…including officials, the players, coaches, ushers, the Carolina band, the cheerleaders, and officers,” according to coverage of the contest. It was a significantly reduced crowd from the prior week’s Big Thursday outing, and included “only those who had recovered” from the Clemson game.

Third-string fullback turned starting halfback Bob Robbins proved Carolina’s ace in the hole, according to John A. Montgomery, writing for The State, who noted that Robbins “threw off the injury bug that had chased him through two-and-a-half seasons and cracked the line for valuable gains.” Robbins pulled double-duty, turning in a stellar performance on defense. “His all-around work was rewarded by a big ovation when he trotted off the field in the closing minutes of play,” Montgomery wrote. Robbins gained 45 yards and scored one rushing touchdown on the day. 

Montgomery wrote with flair of the afternoon’s contest,

“The Carolina Gamecocks stretched its wings over Municipal Stadium yesterday and crowed again. Beaten the week before by a powerful Clemson Tiger, it came back yesterday, befitting its name and turned back the Virginia Tech Gobblers in the Southern Conference Battle of the Birds, 20-0, before 4,500.” 

1969

The Gamecocks famously won the ACC championship in ‘69, compiling a 6-0 record in ACC play (Carolina did not play Virginia that season). Finishing 7-4 overall, the Gamecocks faced tough sledding out of conference with hard-fought road losses at top-ten SEC powers Georgia and Tennessee, and a budding Florida State program. A mud-splashed loss in the Peach Bowl versus Jim Carlen-coached West Virginia marred the Gamecocks’ second-ever postseason bowl. 

A thrilling 17-16 win over the Hokies in Blacksburg represented Carolina’s lone non-conference win of the season. The Hokies overcame sloppy play, including four lost fumbles, to take a 16-14 lead with 1:13 remaining. Carolina stormed right back with a Dickie Harris kickoff return to the Hokie 32-yard line. After several plays with little gain, placekicker Billy DePre nailed a 47-yard field goal for the win.

The ‘69 team remains the only outright conference champion in program history, and the roster was filled with names that echo through the decades. Quarterback Tommy Suggs led the Gamecocks to three-straight wins over Clemson (1968-70), set ACC and program records for passing touchdowns in a game (5), and graduated as the program leader in yards (4,916) and touchdowns (34). He was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989 and remains an integral part of Carolina football as the longtime color analyst for the Gamecock Radio Network. 

Suggs’ favorite target was a lanky receiver from St. George, South Carolina, Freddy Ziegler. Recruited by then-USC assistant Lou Holtz, Ziegler left the program as the all-time leading receiver, and still holds records for catches (12) and receiving yards in a game (199) set against Virginia in 1968. He was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995. 

Anchoring the offensive backfield was rugged fullback Warren Muir, who rumbled for 969 yards during his senior season of 1969. Coach Paul Dietzel called him “the toughest inside runner in college football.” Muir was a first-team All-America selection in ‘69 and was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. 

Other notable members of the team included sophomore defensive back and kick-return specialist Dickie Harris – a future All-America and All-ACC selection who would be inducted into the USC HOF in 1998; steady placekicker Billy DuPre, a soccer-style kicker from Columbia’s AC Flora High School; offensive tackle Dave DeCamilla, from Hudson Falls, New York; and defensive end Lynn Hodge of Union, South Carolina, among a host of others. 

Bob Spear of The State covered the 1969 Gamecock team’s 50th reunion in this fantastic Nov. 28, 2019, piece. 

1990

Throughout the summer of 1990, speculation swirled around two pending conference expansions – one in the ACC, one in the SEC. Florida State, Miami, and South Carolina played a high-stakes game of musical chairs that summer, as conference officials played it close to the vest. 

On Sept. 14, FSU accepted an invitation to join the ACC, leaving Miami and South Carolina to vie for the open SEC spot. After SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer visited interim USC President Arthur K. Smith at the president’s residence on the historic USC Horseshoe, Smith described the meeting as “warm, very pleasant, cordial. Friendly.” Indeed, Kramer’s meeting with USC officials was a languid affair, stretching over four hours, including an elaborate lunch. In contrast, Kramer’s earlier meeting with Miami officials was comparatively brief and reportedly not as cordial. Smith told reporters he felt, “if anything, more encouraged, more optimistic than I have been.” 

Beyond the good feelings in Columbia, reports out of Coral Gables pointed to a Miami move to the expanding Big East Conference. 

As excitement and anticipation built at USC, Coach Sparky Woods’ Gamecocks traveled to Blacksburg for a road contest versus Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech Hokies. Momentum was building around fourth-year coach Beamer’s program, and though no one in Lane Stadium could have known it that day, he would go on to enjoy a legendary career spanning twenty-nine seasons at Tech, including three Big East and four ACC championships. 

It was a noon kickoff in bucolic Blacksburg. Temperatures were a balmy sixty-nine degrees with clearing skies after an overnight rain. The Gamecocks struggled throughout the first half, which ended with a 14-7 Hokie lead. Tech scored ten more in the third period, while the Gamecocks scored on a one-yard Mike Dingle touchdown run. Collin Mackie’s extra point was blocked, and the Hokies carried a 24-13 lead into the final period. 

The Gamecocks caught fire during the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns in five minutes on two Dingle rushing scores and a Bobby Fuller strike to receiver Eddie Miller. Dingle finished with four rushing touchdowns and 131 yards, while Fuller threw for 251 yards and junior receiver Robert Brooks, a future Green Bay Packer, hauled in 118 receiving yards. The Gamecocks pulled off a gritty, come-from-behind win, and the 35-24 final kept Carolina perfect in the early season at 3-0 after earlier victories over former ACC foes, UNC and Duke. 

That Saturday, Sept. 22, marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Hugo’s devastating landfall along the South Carolina coast in 1989. The win was a harbinger of better days and served to heighten the good vibes in Columbia as the SEC’s decision loomed. 

The following Tuesday morning, Sept. 25, SEC Commissioner Kramer telephoned USC interim president Smith to extend the coveted membership invitation. The USC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept, and by midday, media outlets were notified. After a winding, sometimes uncomfortable, and often uncertain courtship, USC’s athletic fortunes changed forever with a simple phone call. 

On July 1, 1991, Arkansas and South Carolina officially became the 11th and 12th members of the mighty Southeastern Conference. 

Looking ahead

South Carolina defeated Virginia Tech again in 1991 by a score of 28-21 during Frank Beamer’s fifth season in Blacksburg. It turned out to be the final matchup between the two programs for 33 years. 

In 2025, there is another Beamer entering his fifth season as head coach, this time, South Carolina’s Shane Beamer – a 1999 Virginia Tech graduate, Hokie letterman, and son of the legendary elder Beamer. 

Beamer and the Gamecocks are riding a wave of momentum, coming off a feel-good 2024 campaign in which Carolina won nine games, including the final six of the regular season, behind the heroics of redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. After defeating Clemson in thrilling fashion at Death Valley, the Gamecocks found themselves very much in the discussion for the first-ever twelve-team College Football Playoffs, but ultimately settled for a Citrus Bowl bid versus Illinois of the Big 10. A frustrating and at times controversial 21-17 loss to the Illini tarnished an otherwise sensational finish to the ‘24 season, and has the Gamecocks eager to take the next step forward in 2025. 

Beamer is 29-22 (.569) through four seasons in Columbia, and has won over fans and pundits alike. With a new offensive coordinator, veteran coach Mike Shula, and significant contributors from 2024 competing for spots on NFL rosters this fall, there are question marks for the Gamecocks entering the new season. But Beamer has developed a flair for dramatic results during his time at South Carolina, and there is a real sense that big things lie ahead. Carolina was picked 5th in the SEC pre-season, up from 13th prior to the 2024 season. If Sellers, an early Heisman Trophy candidate, can stay healthy and do the things he did during the second half of 2024, Gamecock fans are in for a fun ride. 

Virginia Tech enters 2025 under fourth-year head coach Brent Pry, who carries a 16-21 overall record (10-13, ACC). The Hokies finished a disappointing 6-7 in 2024, and Pry is under pressure to turn things around entering the new season. The Hokies will look to make a splash in a high-profile game versus an SEC opponent. Virginia Tech was picked to finish 11th out of 17 teams during polling at the preseason ACC media event in July, and fans in Blacksburg are anxious for a return to Frank Beamer-era success. Some have speculated that, given his deep connections to Blacksburg, Shane Beamer could be targeted by the Hokies if things don’t pan out for Pry this season. 

The Gamecocks and Hokies will meet in Atlanta for the Aflac Kickoff Game, Sunday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. South Carolina is an early 8.5-point favorite according to oddsmakers. The game is part of a double-header weekend in Atlanta, with Tennessee taking on Syracuse on Saturday, August 30. The Gamecocks vs. Hokies Sunday tilt represents the 16th SEC versus ACC matchup in the Aflac Kickoff series, which dates to 2008. The SEC holds a 13-1 lead in those matchups. 

As the sweltering August days tick by, “talking season,” as the great Steve Spurrier phrased it, is nearly over. 

It’s almost time for Carolina Football.

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