Palmetto Proving Grounds

He was a Sr. in '85. RS his jr. year in '83, out of Juco

I went to the Mich game in '85, and he did not play a lick. Only Alan Mitchell, I think played. I was 9, but I don't remember him playing at all that year.

I worshipped him when I was little, and I thought he was gone by '85. Did he play any in '85?

Hold was the Gamecocks' starting quarterback the entire 1985 season.

You are in error about the Michigan game. He started the game but was replaced by Mitchell late in the first half.

Here is the game story that appeared in The Charlotte Observer on Sept. 22, 1985:

MICHIGAN MANHANDLES SOUTH CAROLINA 34-3

The South Carolina football players walked silently into their locker room
after their 34-3 loss to Michigan Saturday. What could they say? No single
play or series of plays turned the contest. Michigan dominated the line of
scrimmage and the game.

South Carolina was held to 35 yards passing and 167 yards rushing for a
total of 202 yards. The Gamecock running backs had no holes through which to
run and the quarterbacks had no time to pass.

The 74,200 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium began to leave early in the
fourth quarter. By the end of the nationally televised contest, the 3,000
Michigan fans, looking like bees in yellow and dark blue in one corner of the stadium, were making more noise.

Michigan, which upset Notre Dame last week, is 2-0. South Carolina, which
had eased into the season with victories against The Citadel and Appalachian
State, is 2-1. Going into the game, South Carolina was ranked 15th, Michigan
19th.

It was the Gamecocks` most lopsided loss since a 52-14 drubbing by Georgia in 1974, and their first home loss since 1983.

``They came down here and drilled the ball down our throats,`` said South
Carolina running back Raynard Brown.

Despite Michigan`s 34 points, South Carolina coach Joe Morrison blamed the loss on his offense.

``I thought our defense played well,`` he said. ``The third downs in the
first half (Michigan converted eight of 11) hurt us, but overall, I thought
our defense played well enough that if the offense had done anything, it could have kept us in the ball game.``

But South Carolina`s offense, which had averaged 557 total yards in its
first two games, was reduced to tricks and gimmicks. The offensive line had
had trouble against Appalachian State. Against the Wolverines the trouble was multiplied by about 10.

Michigan`s offensive line averaged 270 pounds, South Carolina`s defensive
line about 240. The difference in size and strength was overwhelming.

``We made up our minds to control the option and stop the big play,`` said Michigan coach Bo Schembechler. ``The big play has been the hallmark of the
South Carolina teams, and we stopped it.``

The Gamecocks` longest play was a 21-yard scramble by quarterback Mike
Hold.

In the first quarter, the Gamecocks two longest gains were scrambles of
nine and 11 yards by Hold. Until they mounted a 75-yard drive at the end of
the first half, the longest gain in the second quarter was four yards. The
Gamecocks did not enter Michigan territory until the last 65 seconds of the
first half.

At that point the Wolverines led 14-0. They scored the first touchdown on
an 11-play, 76-yard, first-quarter drive. Michigan scored its second touchdown after a six-play, 50-yard drive.

After that, with the Gamecock fans standing and screaming, South Carolina
finally showed the innovative offense that led to a 10-2 record last season.
The Gamecocks got the ball with 2:11 left in the half, and with Allen Mitchell at quarterback in place of Hold, they began to move. Using a quick count, they used five straight runs to move into Michigan territory. But the drive came up five yards short, and with five seconds left in the half, South Carolina had
to settle for a field goal.

Finally the fans had something to cheer about.

But if the players had momentum going into the locker room, they left it
there. They received the ball to start the second half. But starting from
their own 18, Mitchell threw an incomplete pass. On the next play, he rolled
out, was hit and fumbled. He recoved it but the play lost nine yards. He spent the next play dodging Wolverine defenders in the end zone, barely eluding a
safety by getting rid of the ball.

Things got worse. South Carolina ran 18 plays in the third quarter and
gained 17 yards.

``I was disappointed in our offensive line,`` Morrison said. ``Coming into the game, I didn`t think we would be able to score a lot of points, but I
thought we would be able to control the football and move the chains. Michigan did a lot of stunting and angling with their defensive unit. I think we are
going to have to go back to work, especially offensively

That was awesome. If I remember correctly, which I probably do not: wasn't that Raynard Brown who returned the Kickoff 99 yards in '84 against Fla St? Seems like he almost kneeled, or did, and the refs did not call it? Is that the same guy?

I do not remember that play. Thanks for linking it.

At the end of the play, Raynard Brown catches the ball and runs it in for a touchdown. Do you remember another famous play Raynard Brown made the year before against a top 10 team where he ran back a kick off for a touchdown? 1984, ESPN, night game, USC and ? were undefeated in the middle of the season and Williams Brice stadium was swayin'.

One of the more exciting games and plays I have ever seen and, oh, by the way, his knee did touch the ground when he caught the ball on the kickoff. The refs missed it.

Over them mountains?

The 1985 team was minus about 20 players that were scheduled to return from the 1984 team, including Gerald Perry, Roy Hart, Joe Brooks, Lenny Rivera and many others that would have made a huge difference in the team and the record.

Art Smith changed the criteria for regaining eligibility in summer school that year and we lost a ton of very good football players. Hart returned in 1986, but most of those guys never played for us again. Perry went on to a stellar NFL career.

Why'd somebody have to bring up that Michigan game? I was at that game. It was there that I realized size does matter.

The first I've heard of this. Who is Art Smith? I thought Roy got hurt.

Interim president of USC

my senior year was 1985 and Mike was on the team.