2011 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

2011 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Capital One Bowl champion
Capital One Bowl, W 30–13 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEast Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 9
Record11–2 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorEllis Johnson (4th season)
Base defense4–2–5
Home stadiumWilliams-Brice Stadium
Seasons
← 2010
2012 →
2011 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 19 Georgia x   7 – 1     10 – 4  
No. 9 South Carolina   6 – 2     11 – 2  
Florida   3 – 5     7 – 6  
Vanderbilt   2 – 6     6 – 7  
Kentucky   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Tennessee   1 – 7     5 – 7  
Western Division
No. 2 LSU x$   8 – 0     13 – 1  
No. 1 Alabama  %#   7 – 1     12 – 1  
No. 5 Arkansas   6 – 2     11 – 2  
Auburn   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Mississippi State   2 – 6     7 – 6  
Ole Miss*   0 – 8     2 – 10  
Championship: LSU 42, Georgia 10
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * Ole Miss vacated all wins due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks were led by seventh-year head coach Steve Spurrier and played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of the Southeastern Conference and finished 11–2 for the season and 6–2 in SEC play.[1]

The defending SEC East champions, South Carolina started the season 4–0 and ranked No. 10 in the country.[1] However, in the fifth game of the season, they lost at home to unranked defending national champion Auburn,[1] resulting in long-time starting quarterback Stephen Garcia being replaced by Connor Shaw.[2][3][4] Shaw would subsequently start almost every game until the end of the 2013 season, becoming the winningest quarterback in school history along the way, and never losing at home.[5] South Carolina would only lose one more game the rest of the season, a blowout on the road at No. 8 Arkansas.[1] While the Gamecocks finished undefeated against the East Division,[1] the losses to Auburn and Arkansas left them second in the division standings behind Georgia.[6] In the Capital One Bowl, they defeated No. 21 Nebraska 30–13, the program's first bowl victory since 2006.[7] The eleven wins were a school record; it was only the second time in the school's 119-year football history that it won as many as ten games.[8] They also finished eighth in the final Coaches' Poll and ninth in the final AP Poll—their first-ever top-10 finishes in any major poll.[8]

The 2011 Gamecocks were arguably the most talented team in school history.[9] They are the only team in South Carolina's history with two future retired jerseys (Alshon Jeffery and Jadeveon Clowney).[10] Melvin Ingram was a consensus All-American, one of only four in program history.[11] Jadeveon Clowney, the top-ranked recruit in his class, was named the SEC Freshman of the Year,[12] and was also a future unanimous All-American, Heisman candidate, and first pick in the NFL draft.[13][14][15] The team had three future first-round NFL draft picks (Stephon Gilmore, Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney) and sixteen total future NFL draft picks, the most in program history.[16]

  1. ^ a b c d e "2011 South Carolina Gamecocks Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "Shaw Named Starter For Saturday". University of South Carolina Athletics. October 3, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  3. ^ "Stephen Garcia College Gamelog". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  4. ^ "Garcia Dismissed from Football Team". University of South Carolina Athletics. October 11, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  5. ^ "Connor Shaw". University of South Carolina Athletics. June 22, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  6. ^ "2011 Southeastern Conference Year Summary". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "South Carolina Gamecocks Bowls". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "South Carolina Gamecocks College Football History, Stats, Records". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  9. ^ "South Carolina Football's GOAT Series: Top-10 greatest Gamecock football seasons of all-time". Garnet and Cocky. May 12, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "South Carolina To Retire Alshon Jeffery's Jersey". University of South Carolina Athletics. August 14, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  11. ^ "South Carolina Gamecocks All-America Selections". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "Clowney Named Freshman of the Year". University of South Carolina Athletics. December 7, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "Jadeveon Clowney". University of South Carolina Athletics. June 22, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "Low: Clowney has lived up to the hype". ESPN.com. December 31, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Texans draft Clowney with No. 1 overall pick". ESPN.com. May 8, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "DraftHistory.com". www.drafthistory.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.