As we head toward the season, we are doing a series looking at top wins against each of the Gamecocks 2022 opponents. Gamecock Scoop has already looked at the top 5 home openers, the top 5 Arkansas wins, the top 5 Georgia wins and the top 5 non-conference (not Clemson) regular-season wins. Carolina's Week 5 opponent is reigning, defending, undisputed, Coach Prime beating, HBCU National Champion South Carolina State Bulldogs. The Gamecocks and the in-state Bulldogs have an extremely limited history having only met twice. So this week we are counting the top 5 Carolina Bowl wins. South Carolina has played in 24 bowl games in its history and owns a 10-14 record. The Gamecocks lost their first eight bowls and have gone a respectable 10-6 since the 1994 season.

For this week, the primary criteria is the quality of the game, not necessarily the importance or impact. As such, we are leaving off the initial Carquest Bowl win over West Virginia, the 24-7 Ryan Brewer shellacking of Ohio State in the first Outback Bowl meeting, the Capital One Bowl win over Nebraska that secured the school's first-ever 11-win season, and what will hopefully be the first of many bowl wins under Shane Beamer, last year's Duke's Mayo Bowl win.

The Gamecocks entered the 2006 Liberty Bowl after a successful 7-5 year in Coach Steve Spurrier's second season. Carolina was in a position to beat eventually National Champion Florida and then defeated Clemson in the season finale. Houston was 10-3 under fourth-year Coach Art Briles and was led by future NFL quarterback Kevin Kolb. This game was what you would expect from two of the game's best callers as the two teams combined for 1,039 yards of offense.

Former Gamecock and Minnesota Viking star Sidney Rice had eight catches for 139 yards and a score. The late great Kenny McKinley had three catches for 112 yards and helped Carolina put the game away with two 43-yard touchdown grabs in the 4th quarter. Gamecock quarterback Blake Mitchell, the game's MVP, turned his 19 completions into 323 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jordan Lindsey came up with two turnovers for a defense that made the stops that mattered most.

This game was the crowning moment of the Will Muschamp era. Will Muschamp was given a huge contract extension after this game and a 9-win 2017 season. Muschamp had relieved Kurt Roper of his Offensive Coordinator position prior to this game. During the first half, Gamecock fans were missing him. Carolina only trailed 9-3 at the half, but it felt much worse. The Gamecocks had 79 yards of offense and had more punts, five, than first downs 3.

The momentum changed in the 3rd quarter despite Michigan pushing its lead to 19-3. Early in the second half, the Wolverines intercepted SC quarterback Jake Bentley at the Carolina 27. Javon Kinlaw would force a fumble that was recovered by Chris Lammons at the Carolina 9. After struggling on offense again, Michigan would take over at the Gamecock 32-yard line. The Gamecock defense held the Wolverines to a field goal, their last points of the game. While the Gamecock offense came to life behind Bentley, Muschamp's defense stifled Michigan holding them to a fumble, a punt, two interceptions, and a turnover on downs in their final 5 possessions. Bryan Edwards and Shi Smith would catch touchdowns during the Carolina comeback. Bentley was named the game's MVP.

The 2014 Capital One Bowl would be the final game in the illustrious careers of Connor Shaw, Bruce Ellington, and Jadeveon Clowney. It would also mark the last time South Carolina Football was relevant on a national scale after notching the program's third straight 11-win season and third straight top 10 finish. The 2013 Gamecocks would finish the season ranked 4th, the highest in school history.

Shaw was nearly flawless in Orlando. He went 22-25 with 312 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 47 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Ellington was just as good, catching six balls for 140 yards and two touchdowns. For good measure, Ellington also threw a touchdown pass... to Connor Shaw. Wisconsin led the game at halftime and took the lead in the second half behind the legs of star running backs Melvin Gordon III and James White, both current NFL players. Both backs would rush for over 100 yards. But Shaw, Ellington, and Carolina's defensive MVP with two interceptions, Skai Moore, refused to lose this game. Shaw was named MVP. "I'm so glad the way we battled throughout the game and our defense came and played," Shaw said in the post-game. "I couldn't be more proud." Neither could Gamecock fans.

The Gamecocks had handily defeated Ohio State in the 2001 edition of the Outback Bowl. The 2002 version looked much worse for the Buckeyes in the final second of the 3rd quarter. Carolina led 28-0 before the Buckeyes finally scored on the last snap of the quarter. But then, Ohio State would use the 4th quarter to give the nation a preview of their 2002 National Championship season. Ohio State was dominant in the final quarter erasing the Gamecocks' lead with 1:54 left. Carolina would respond with QB Phil Petty throwing a late interception. Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel appeared content to run out the clock and play for overtime, but then on 2nd and 9, he elected to try a deep pass that was intercepted by future NFL star Sheldon Brown. Brown would return the pick back to the Buckeye 30-yard line and set up a game-winning 42-yard Daniel Weaver field goal. The Weaver kick cleared the uprights by as many yards as missed Caleb Alexander FutureCasts.

Gamecock Head Coach Lou Holtz would say after the game, "I don't know what would've happened if that sucker didn't go through." Well, I do, Ohio State would've won in overtime. Luckily, we will never have to find out for sure. Petty was named the MVP as he completed 19-of-37 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdowns.

This game taught everyone an important life lesson, when someone else screws up, don't hang your head and use it as an excuse. Just use your 6'5, 260 lbs frame, and your 4.5 speed and take matters into your own hands. That's what Jadeveon Clowney did when he turned himself into a mythical figure in a single play. No need to recap it, you've seen it a thousand times. It won an ESPY and was the subject of a 30-minute SEC Network special (albeit a really bad one). It created a standard that Clowney himself, nor anyone else, could never live up to. Spurrier would quip about the sequence, "I asked one of those other refs there. I said, 'You know the ball did not touch the first-down marker.' He said, 'I know it didn't.' I said, 'Well, why did he give it to them?' and he said, 'I don't know,'" Spurrier said. "Clowney knocked the ball out the next play, so I'm glad they gave it to them. ... We gained about 10 or 15 yards."

Besides the hit, pretty much all of your favorite Spurrier 11-win era players, save for Marcus Lattimore, factored into this game. Both Shaw and Dylan Thompson threw two touchdowns. Ace Sanders, Damiere Byrd, and Ellington would score touchdowns. D.J. Swearinger and Shaq Wilson led Carolina in tackles with nine. Sanders won the MVP with two receiving touchdowns and a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. Despite all the theatrics, Carolina needed a Thompson, filling in for a gimpy Shaw, 32-yard strike to Ellington with 11 seconds left to secure the win.

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A quick thought on the bowl win not mentioned yet, the 2014 Independence Bowl win over Miami. Looking back, Spurrier should have called it quits after that game. It was pretty clear in retrospect that he no longer enjoyed the daily grind of coaching in the SEC.

Next week we will return to our regularly scheduled programming with the top 5 wins over Kentucky. (These wins feel older than the 1950's heavy top 5 non-conference list).

As always, remember to follow along on the Insiders Forum for all the latest info for every new #Welcome Home.