Player Detail

JOHNNIE WRIGHT
Running Back
1977 / 1981
Fort Myers, FL

Biography
A big tailback, Wright had been named Fort Myers Player of the Year in 1976 and joined classmate George Rogers in giving Jim Carlen two highly touted backs in the 1977 class. Wright saw considerable action at tailback, initially backing up Spencer Clark and Casper Carter but drew the start in the season finale against Clemson that season. Wright began the ’78 season backing up Clark again but had his coming out party in the season’s fourth game, as he ran for 156 yards in an upset of of 19th ranked Georgia. He would take over a starting role and go on to have two more 100-yard games that season, against Ohio U. and North Carolina. The Gamecocks’ powerful rushing attack of Wright at tailback and Rogers at fullback took a hit in fall camp before the ’79 season when Wright tore ligaments in his knee and missed the entire year. When he returned in 1980 Rogers had taken over at tailback but Wright dutifully led the way for the Heisman winner from the fullback spot. He did have his moments in the spotlight still, rushing for 162 yards on just 13 carries against Duke and then scoring the winning touchdown in Carolina’s 17-14 upset win at Michigan. Rogers’ graduation left the tailback spot to Wright in 1981 and he had three more 100-yard games (Mississippi, Duke and UNC). The South Carolina Sportswriters’ Association named him State Offensive Player of the Week for his work against Ole Miss. Other highlights included scoring the go-ahead TD in a win over Kentucky and contributing 115 yards rushing in the upset of the 3rd ranked Tar Heels. Wright was named 2nd team All-South Independent after his senior season. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 12th round in 1982 but saw only limited action (3 yards rushing, 12 receiving) in his one year with Baltimore. After being released he resurfaced in 1985 with the Orlando Renegades of the USFL.

Biography

A big tailback, Wright had been named Fort Myers Player of the Year in 1976 and joined classmate George Rogers in giving Jim Carlen two highly touted backs in the 1977 class. Wright saw considerable action at tailback, initially backing up Spencer Clark and Casper Carter but drew the start in the season finale against Clemson that season. Wright began the ’78 season backing up Clark again but had his coming out party in the season’s fourth game, as he ran for 156 yards in an upset of of 19th ranked Georgia. He would take over a starting role and go on to have two more 100-yard games that season, against Ohio U. and North Carolina. The Gamecocks’ powerful rushing attack of Wright at tailback and Rogers at fullback took a hit in fall camp before the ’79 season when Wright tore ligaments in his knee and missed the entire year. When he returned in 1980 Rogers had taken over at tailback but Wright dutifully led the way for the Heisman winner from the fullback spot. He did have his moments in the spotlight still, rushing for 162 yards on just 13 carries against Duke and then scoring the winning touchdown in Carolina’s 17-14 upset win at Michigan. Rogers’ graduation left the tailback spot to Wright in 1981 and he had three more 100-yard games (Mississippi, Duke and UNC). The South Carolina Sportswriters’ Association named him State Offensive Player of the Week for his work against Ole Miss. Other highlights included scoring the go-ahead TD in a win over Kentucky and contributing 115 yards rushing in the upset of the 3rd ranked Tar Heels.

Wright was named 2nd team All-South Independent after his senior season. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 12th round in 1982 but saw only limited action (3 yards rushing, 12 receiving) in his one year with Baltimore. After being released he resurfaced in 1985 with the Orlando Renegades of the USFL.

Prior Schools
School	Location
Cypress Lake	Cape Coral, FL

Roster Listings
Year	Roster	Num	Pos	Ht	Wt	Yr	Gms	GS
1977	Georgia Tech, Clemson progams	36	RB	6-1	200	Fr	1	1
1977	Media Guide		RB	6-1	195	Fr
1978	Media Guide	36	RB	6-1	200	So	3	3
1978	Game Program vs. Duke	36	RB	6-1	200	So
1980	Media Guide	36	FB	6-1	205	Jr
1980	Wichita State, Pacific game programs	36	RB	6-1	200	Jr	4	4
1981	1981 Media Guide	36	TB	6-1	205	Sr
1981	Clemson 1981	36	RB	6-2	215	Sr	7	7

Depth Chart Appearances
Description	Position	Rank
1978 Media Guide	Tailback	Co-Starter
9/23/1978 vs. Duke	Kick Off Returns	Co-Starter
9/23/1978 vs. Duke	Tailback	2nd String
1980 Media Guide	Fullback	Starter
1981 Media Guide	Tailback	Co-Starter
9/26/1981 vs. Georgia	Tailback	Starter
10/17/81 vs Virginia	Tailback	Starter
10/24/81 vs North Carolina	Tailback	Starter

Honors
Award	Year
1981	George Terry Best Attitude

Rushing
Year	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1977	74	371	5.0	1
1978	176	903	5.1	6
1980	90	481	5.3	3
1981	212	834	3.9	5
Tot	552	2589	4.7	15

Rushing from Play-by-Play
Year	Att	Yds	Avg	1D	Neg Rush	NR%	Stuff%	10+ Yds	10+ %	20+ Yds	3D Conv%	TD
1978	141	733	5.2	41	8	44.68	19.9	24	17.0	4	44.4	3

Receiving
Year	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Com%	1D	CDT	CD%	BP%
1977	2	17	8.5	0
1978	9	54	6.0	0
1980	2	17	8.5	0
1981	9	73	8.1	0
Tot	22	161	7.3	0

Receiving by QB
Year	QB	Rec	Throws	Com%	Yds	1D	TD	Success Rate
1977
	Ron Bass	2	2	100.0	15	0	0	100.00
	Gregg Gresham	1	1	100.0	12	1	0	100.00
1978
	Garry Harper	3	4	75.0	20	1	0	50.00
	Skip Ramsey	2	2	100.0	15	0	0	0.00
1981
	Terry Bishop	1	1	100.0	5	0	0	0.00

Success Rate from Official Play-By-Play Stats
Year	Pass Plays	Pass SR	Pass SPP	Rush Plays	Rush SR	Rush SPP	Recv Plays	Recv SR	Recv SPP	Recv FC%	Tot SPP	SPP/Play
1977				65	60.00	72.7	3	100	5.97	0	78.67	1.16
1978				132	57.60	151.06	6	33.3	-0.29	60	150.77	1.09
1980				5	20.00	-0.47	0				-0.47	-0.09
1981				40	37.50	19.56	1	0	-0.17	100	19.39	0.47

Kickoff Returns
Year	Ret	Yds	Avg	TD
1977	4	71	17.8	0
Tot	4	71	17.8	0

Games Started
Date	Opponent	Position
1977-11-19	Clemson	Tailback
1978-10-07	Georgia Tech	Tailback
1978-10-21	Mississippi	Tailback
1978-11-25	Clemson	Tailback
1980-09-06	Pacific	Fullback
1980-10-18	Georgia	Running Back
1980-11-22	Clemson	Fullback
1980-12-29	Pittsburgh	Fullback
1981-09-12	Mississippi	Tailback
1981-09-26	Georgia	Tailback
1981-10-03	Pittsburgh	Tailback
1981-10-10	Kentucky	Tailback
1981-10-17	Virginia	Tailback
1981-10-24	North Carolina	Tailback
1981-11-21	Clemson	Tailback

Single Game Rushing Stats
Season	Game Date	Opponent	Att	Yds	TD
1977	1977-09-03	Appalachian State	3	15	0
	1977-09-10	Georgia Tech	8	41	0
	1977-09-17	Miami (Ohio)	4	24	0
	1977-09-24	Georgia	2	15	0
	1977-10-01	East Carolina	3	44	0
	1977-10-08	Duke	4	4	0
	1977-10-15	Mississippi	5	28	0
	1977-10-22	North Carolina	9	44	0
	1977-10-29	N.C. State	11	52	0
	1977-11-12	Wake Forest	20	82	1
	1977-11-19	Clemson	5	23	0
1978	1978-09-09	Furman	15	82	1
	1978-09-16	Kentucky	8	59	0
	1978-09-23	Duke	16	57	0
	1978-09-30	Georgia	27	156	1
	1978-10-07	Georgia Tech	22	67	0
	1978-10-14	Ohio	19	125	2
	1978-10-21	Mississippi	16	63	1
	1978-10-28	North Carolina	20	112	0
	1978-11-04	N.C. State	8	20	1
	1978-11-18	Wake Forest	15	98	0
	1978-11-25	Clemson	10	64	1
1979	1979-09-08	North Carolina	23	97	0
1980	1980-09-13	Wichita State	4	11	1
	1980-09-20	Southern Cal	10	19	0
	1980-09-27	Michigan	12	33	1
	1980-10-04	Duke	13	162	0
	1980-10-11	Cincinnati	5	77	1
	1980-11-01	Citadel	4	13	0
	1980-12-29	Pittsburgh	4	23	0
1981	1981-09-05	Wake Forest	17	63	0
	1981-09-12	Mississippi	22	121	1
	1981-09-19	Duke	18	113	0
	1981-09-26	Georgia	10	20	0
	1981-10-03	Pittsburgh	7	20	0
	1981-10-10	Kentucky	21	66	1
	1981-10-17	Virginia	19	87	1
	1981-10-24	North Carolina	27	115	0
	1981-10-31	N.C. State	19	61	0
	1981-11-07	Pacific	5	19	0
	1981-11-21	Clemson	16	68	1
	1981-12-05	Hawaii	21	78	0

Single Game Receiving Stats
Season	Game Date	Opponent	Rec	Yds	TD
1977	1977-09-17	Miami (Ohio)	1	12	0
	1977-10-15	Mississippi	1	5	0
1978	1978-10-07	Georgia Tech	1	-5	0
	1978-10-14	Ohio	2	8	0
	1978-10-21	Mississippi	2	11	0
	1978-10-28	North Carolina	1	8	0
	1978-11-04	N.C. State	1	7	0
	1978-11-18	Wake Forest	1	11	0
	1978-11-25	Clemson	1	14	0
1980	1980-09-20	Southern Cal	1	9	0
1981	1981-09-19	Duke	1	9	0
	1981-09-26	Georgia	6	42	0
	1981-10-24	North Carolina	1	3	0
	1981-12-05	Hawaii	1	19	0

Scoring Plays
Date	Opponent	Qtr	Time	USC	Opp	Play
1977-11-12	Wake Forest	4	06:52	24	14	Johnnie Wright, 2-yd run (Britt Parrish kick)
1978-09-30	Georgia	1	05:48	7	0	Johnnie Wright, 3-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1978-10-14	Ohio	1	07:21	7	0	Johnnie Wright, 3-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1978-10-14	Ohio	4	11:00	24	7	Johnnie Wright, 28-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1978-10-21	Mississippi	4	13:25	7	10	Johnnie Wright, 2-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1978-11-04	N.C. State	4	03:00	13	22	Johnnie Wright, 2-yd run (pass failed)
1978-11-25	Clemson	4	06:36	23	41	Johnnie Wright, 2-yd run (pass failed)
1980-09-13	Wichita State	1		7	0	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1980-09-27	Michigan	3		17	14	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1980-10-11	Cincinnati	2		42	7	Johnnie Wright, 60-yd run (Eddie Leopard kick)
1981-09-12	Mississippi	2		10	0	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Mark Fleetwood kick)
1981-10-10	Kentucky	3		14	7	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Mark Fleetwood kick)
1981-10-17	Virginia	3		21	3	Johnnie Wright, 3-yd run (Mark Fleetwood kick)
1981-10-31	N.C. State	3		13	12	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Mark Fleetwood kick)
1981-11-21	Clemson	1		7	0	Johnnie Wright, 1-yd run (Mark Fleetwood kick)

Receptions
Year	Date	Opponent	Down	To Go	Side	Ydline	Play
1977	1977-09-17	Miami (Ohio)	2	9	MOH	41	Johnnie Wright, 12-yd pass from Gregg Gresham (Farais)
1977	1977-10-15	Mississippi	1	10		50	Johnnie Wright, 6-yd pass from Ron Bass (Plasketes); end of game
1977	1977-11-12	Wake Forest	1	10	WFU	28	Johnnie Wright, 9-yd pass from Ron Bass (Mark Lancaster)
1978	1978-10-07	Georgia Tech	2	16	USC	45	Johnnie Wright loses 5 on pass from Garry Harper (Lawrence Lowe)
1978	1978-10-28	North Carolina	3	18	UNC	39	Johnnie Wright, 8-yd pass from Skip Ramsey (Darrell Nicholson)
1978	1978-11-04	N.C. State	3	36	USC	4	Johnnie Wright, 7-yd pass from Skip Ramsey (Robert Abraham)
1978	1978-11-18	Wake Forest	3	11	USC	26	Garry Harper's pass complete to Johnnie Wright, gain of 11 (Osborne)
1978	1978-11-25	Clemson	2	9	CLM	48	Johnnie Wright, 14-yd pass from Garry Harper (Brown)
1981	1981-09-26	Georgia	2	10	USC	20	Johnnie Wright, 5-yd pass from Terry Bishop

Defensive Plays
Year	Date	Opponent	Down	To Go	Side	Ydline	Play
1978	1978-09-30	Georgia	1	10	USC	47	Johnnie Wright rush for 4 (Petrisko)
1978	1978-10-07	Georgia Tech	1	10	USC	20	Garry Harper pass intercepted by Cox at SC 36, returned 13 yards (Johnnie Wright)
1978	1978-10-28	North Carolina	1	10		50	Johnnie Wright rush for 1 (Darrell Nicholson)