Navy still a nasty, 4-letter word for Gamecocks

It's been nearly three decades since Navy upset South Carolina, and it still stings.

Former South Carolina quarterback Mike Hold said Gamecock fans frequently bring up the 1984 loss to the Midshipmen that ended their national championship dreams.

The Gamecocks had opened 9-0 and rose to No. 2 in the country. A win at 3-5-1 Navy would've moved South Carolina to No. 1 in the country and earned them a berth in the Orange Bowl for a shot at the national title. Instead, the Midshipmen posted a 38-21 stunner that has forever clouded South Carolina's only 10-win season.

''I look at the fact that we were so close,'' Hold said this week. ''And one game blew it all.''

Navy has never beaten another top-10 team, something the Midshipmen will try to do Saturday against No. 10 South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium.

And while Navy's chances seem slim this week - the Gamecocks are favored by more than two touchdowns - the Middies looked even more overmatched in 1984.

South Carolina's football program is not filled with decades of titles and success like an Alabama or Notre Dame. The benchmarks are sparse: An Atlantic Coast Conference crown in 1969 and George Rogers run to the Heisman Trophy in 1980.

So in 1984 when the Gamecocks season - nicknamed ''Black Magic'' for the all-black outfits worn by late coach Joe Morrison - opened with nine straight wins over the likes of Georgia, Pittsburgh, the Fighting Irish and Florida State, they expected little trouble from Navy. The Midshipmen were without their star, injured running back Napoleon McCallum, and had only beaten Lehigh and Princeton in the previous two months.

''Your parents always tell you beware of the man who has nothing to lose. We had nothing to lose that day. We let it all go,'' said former Navy defensive tackle Eric Rutherford, who blocked a field goal and had four sacks in the game.

South Carolina defensive back Brad Edwards, who played on the 1991 Washington Redskins team that won a Super Bowl, felt the Gamecocks players and staff took a loose approach to the game after so many difficult contests.

''I remember turning to one of my teammates and saying, `I don't think this is going to be a good day.'''

It wasn't for the Gamecocks, who gave up 31 straight points and trailed 38-7 to the undermanned Naval Academy.

The Navy tight end and co-captain of that squad, Mark Stevens, said his team's 31-7 loss to South Carolina a year earlier set the tone for practice that week and the 1984 surprise.

''That game in 1983 was the most embarrassed I've ever been and the low point of my college football career. We couldn't get out of Columbia fast enough that day,'' Stevens said.

Navy made it equally embarrassing for the Gamecocks, who knew top-ranked Nebraska had lost and had the chance to move up.

Midshipmen quarterback Bob Misch threw a pair of touchdown passes to Chris Weiler, Mike Smith ran for two scores and tailback Rich Clouse had a 53-yard touchdown run.

The Navy fans in the crowd waved white caps and sang, ''Hey, hey, goodbye,'' as time ticked down on the highest-ranked opponent the Midshipmen have ever beaten.

''It was crazy,'' former Navy defensive back Marc Ferlie said. ''I remember people from the Orange Bowl came by to congratulate us. We got some bowl stickers out of it.''

The loss remains a stain on what's still the standard for wins in a season at South Carolina. The Gamecocks regrouped enough a week later to beat rival Clemson, 22-21, for their 10th victory, but then lost to Oklahoma State in the Gator Bowl.

Hold said the realization of what the team had lost at Navy set in after the Clemson game, making it difficult to prepare for the Cowboys.

''Golly, if we just beat Navy'' the Gamecocks would play for a national title, Hold said. ''It never goes away.''

And Gamecock fans won't let it go away.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier hadn't begun his college coaching career back then, yet is still reminded of Navy's win. Spurrier said that was a long time ago and most of the fan base is excited about what the defending Southeastern Conference Eastern Division winners are doing now.

''Our students are used to us winning, pretty much at the home games,'' the head coach said. ''So they're fired up. They'll be ready to scream and yell.''

Gamecocks tailback Marcus Lattimore, born in 1991, said fan concerns about Navy's win are ''all over the place.''

Former Navy players say someone mentions the game, often it's a Gamecock fan.

Misch, a government consultant, says one even approached his brother. Misch said his sibling, a firefighter who drives a cab in his spare time, picked up a fare at the Cleveland airport who saw the name on his hack license and said, ''You've got to be kidding me? Misch from Navy?''

Smith now works for Georgia Power. He was at a house-warming for his stepson in Columbia and several younger South Carolina fans mentioned the upset.

Rutherford, who now lives in Boulder, Colo., said that win against South Carolina is every bit part of Navy's football success as Heisman winners Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963) - and the Midshipmen's current nine-game win streak over Army.

''This was a win that you don't ever want to forget,'' Rutherford said.