Looking Back: Navy 38, #2 South Carolina 21
The Navy football program is no stranger to games against highly-ranked opposition. Over the last 50 years, the Mids have made frequent appearances on the schedules of Notre Dame, Michigan, Pitt, Penn State, and Syracuse, among others. Tomorrow's game against #2 Cincinnati will be the latest in a long history.
However, while playing games against top-10 teams isn't unusual for Navy, playing them in Annapolis is. Traditionally, Navy has moved its highest-profile matchups to Baltimore. When the Mids and the Bearcats meet in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, it will be only the ninth time a top-10 team has visited the building since it opened in 1959. Most recently, Navy toppled sixth-ranked Houston, 46-40, in 2016. The last time a team ranked as high as Cincinnati came to town, the Mids walked away with a colossal 38-21 win over #2 South Carolina on Senior Day in 1984.
By 1984, Navy's spiral into the abyss was already well underway. George Welsh had left for Virginia after the 1981 season. The Mids put together a 6-5 campaign in their first year under Gary Tranquill, but fell to 3-8 in 1983. Nevertheless, there was still some optimism for a return to glory heading into the 1984 season. The previous season had ended with a 42-13 mauling of Army in Pasadena. Napoleon McCallum was emerging as a legitimate star, and sophomore Bill Byrne showed great promise at quarterback. With a thrilling 33-30 win over North Carolina to start the campaign, the optimism seemed justified. Sadly, it all fell apart the following week against Virginia when McCallum suffered a season-ending injury. Byrne would go down as well against Notre Dame later in the year, and the Mids limped into their home finale with a disappointing 3-5-1 record and seemingly little hope against the #2 team in the nation.
South Carolina, on the other hand, was in the middle of the best season in school history. Joe Morrison led the Gamecocks to a 9-0 record with wins over Georgia, Notre Dame, and Florida State. Their split-back veer offense was averaging 35 points per game. Orange Bowl officials were in attendance at the game, giddy at the thought of matching up #2 South Carolina with #1 Nebraska. A national championship was within reach.
Unfortunately for South Carolina, Navy had one last great performance left in them. What followed was the most incredible win by a service academy in the modern age.
What was so remarkable about that game wasn't just that Navy dominated, but that they dominated despite playing a game that was far from perfect. The offense turned the ball over three times and gave South Carolina the ball in Navy territory on each of their first two possessions. Yet the Gamecocks came away with no points off of those turnovers thanks almost entirely to Eric Rutherford, who blocked a field goal attempt on Carolina's first possession, then had a third-down sack on their second possession to set up fourth and long, forcing the Gamecocks to punt. By the game's end, Rutherford had 11 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble, one blocked field goal, and one halftime interview filled with enough swagger to make the hair on your chest grow half an inch. He barely missed out on a fifth sack when the quarterback was able to stumble forward for half a yard, and the pressure brought by Rutherford and others led to one of Mike Taylor's two interceptions.
It was 7-7 in the second quarter when Navy scored 31 straight points to take a 38-7 lead. South Carolina made a late run in garbage time, but it was far too little, too late.