ESPN tabs little-known Tennessee player as South Carolina’s biggest all-time villain, and many Vol fans will quickly remember why
The Vols spoiled South Carolina’s best season ever, and one big play had everything to do with it.
Everyone loves to hate a villain, and those certainly exist in the spectrum of college sports. Many are born of rivalries that go back over a century. Others come from years of losses — and even sometimes from torment from those losses, as Tennessee fans know with Steve Spurrier and the Florida Gators in the 1990s.
But every now and then, a player makes a play that might otherwise be a pin prick in a moment of history. But it happens at a pivotal moment that drives like a stake through the heart of their rival.
And that’s what happened with former Vols wide receiver Marquez North and Tennessee against the South Carolina Gamecocks back in 2013.
South Carolina is a program that has very rarely gotten championship looks. But they had one in 2013. They finished the season 11-2, but one of those losses came to the Vols 23-21 on October 19, and it cost them a trip to the SEC championship game with a look at the BCS national championship game.
And North had a lot to do with the result. Down 21-20 in the final minutes, North made an acrobatic one-handed grab on third and ten to get in field goal range, and Michael Palardy’s kick was true for the win.
That catch alone got North recognition on Friday by ESPN as the biggest all-time villain in South Carolina history.
ESPN names former Tennessee WR Marquez North as South Carolina’s biggest football villain
“South Carolina has enjoyed three top-10 finishes in its history; they happened back-to-back-to-back, from 2011 to ’13, at the peak of Steve Spurrier’s tenure. With top-level performances from quarterback Connor Shaw, running back Mike Davis and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the 2013 team had particularly high upside, and if the Gamecocks had taken care of business as 7.5-point favorites against Tennessee, they would have landed in the SEC championship game with a shot at the national title. But North, a Tennessee freshman receiver, made an incredible, one-handed catch on third-and-10 with 2:32 left, setting up Michael Palardy’s winning field goal for the Vols. Tennessee’s 23-21 victory left South Carolina one win short of the promised land.” – Bill Connelly, ESPN.com
Perhaps that one play is a bit of a stretch to make North the ultimate villain in Columbia. After all, the hatred between Clemson and South Carolina is about on par with any rivalry in the nation. And there have been plenty of moments with heroes and villains on both sides.
But it’s fair to wonder what could have been for the Gamecocks had North not caught that ball or South Carolina otherwise had found a way to win. Guess we’ll never know, and North’s name will continue to be a four-letter word for the Gamecock diehards.
