GamecockArchives.com
Today's Date In Gamecock History
July 21st
Happy Birthday to Steve Taneyhill! - Taneyhill was Sparky Woods' highest profile recruit, choosing the Gamecocks over Alabama after being a Parade All-American and SuperPrep's third ranked quarterback nationally. He started his freshman season on the bench behind senior Wright Mitchell and redshirt freshman Blake Williamson, but when the Gamecocks started 0-5 he was elevated to the starting role. Taneyhill sparked a revival, leading Carolina to five wins in their last six games. He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors in his first game, a 21-6 upset of top 25 foe Mississippi State. He also threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Toby Cates for the winning score in a 24-23 upset of Tennessee. He was named SEC Freshman of the Year and Football News named him to their Freshman All-America team in addition to winning the team's Scott Sinclair Award as the top freshman. His sophomore season would be a struggle, as after an opening win over Georgia the Gamecocks lost seven of their next ten and Taneyhill had twice as many interceptions as touchdown passes. A coaching change to Brad Scott jump started the USC offense, as Taneyhill had a 451-yard game against East Carolina and threw four touchdowns against Mississippi State. Taneyhill would lead USC to its first ever bowl win, a Carquest Bowl victory over West Virginia in which he ran for one touchdown and threw for another. As a senior he had four hundred yard games against Georgia (405) and Mississippi State (473, 86% completion percentage, 3 TDs) in addition to five touchdown games against Vanderbilt and Louisiana Tech. Taneyhill won the team's Steve Wadiak MVP in both 1994 and 1995 and was a team captain in 1995. Following his senior season Taneyhill played in the Blue-Gray Game and the Senior Bowl and was in camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1996 and spent time with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 1997. He went on to a successful coaching career in the South Carolina high school ranks, working as an assistant at Charleston (SC) West Ashley and as head man at Cambridge Academy, where he won back-to-back state titles, and Chesterfield High School, where he won state titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He was elected to the USC Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Taneyhill recently left the high school coaching ranks and bought legendary Five Points bar Group Therapy.

Birthdays
SportAthletePositionHometownBeginEndNote
FB Chris Hail Safety Lovejoy, GA 2006 2008 Special teams coverage standout made 22 tackles in 3 seasons
FB Tommy Oliver Offensive Guard Atlanta, GA 1976 1977 Squad member for two seasons
BB Aaron Rawl Pitcher Lexington, SC 2002 2005 Named All-American in 2004, ranks 3rd all-time in wins with 35
FB Steve Taneyhill Quarterback Altoona, PA 1992 1995 Ranks 1st all-time in career TD passes, 2nd in passing yards

Games Played on July 21st
Football
DateScoreNote
Men's Basketball
DateScore
Baseball
DateScore
Men's Soccer
DateScore
Volleyball
DateScore
Women's Soccer
DateScore
Women's Basketball
DateScore
Softball
DateScore