Gamecocks Boost 'Upset Thursday' Tradition on ESPN

With South Carolina’s 16-10 defeat of No. 4 Ole Miss, eight times in the last year an unranked team has pulled off an impressive defeat of a team ranked among the Top 25 under the lights of Thursday night’s ESPN College Football Primetime presented by Applebee’s.

Ironically, South Carolina was the victim in the first of the eight upsets, a 24-17 loss to Vanderbilt in September 2008 while the Gamecocks were ranked No. 24. On Sept. 25, 2008, the unranked Beavers of Oregon State topped then-No. 1 USC in Corvallis in perhaps the most stunning Thursday upset. In all but one of the eight – Pitt’s win over No. 10 USF – the ranked team was the away team.

ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer, who, along with play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler and fellow analyst Craig James, was in the booth for each of the Thursday night upsets, said at the time that the Oregon State victory was one of the most exciting games he has witnessed.

“We always say at ESPN every week that every game can change the season,” Palmer said. “A lot of our Thursday games have helped define seasons. It’s ‘Upset Thursday.’ It’s exciting to be part of that, knowing Thursday’s matchups are games that shape the college football landscape.”

The Gamecocks’ upset victory Thursday was also a special thrill for the former University of Florida quarterback to watch. Palmer played at UF for coach Steve Spurrier, now the head coach at South Carolina.

“Watching a team that has for the last four years tried to be taken very seriously in the SEC – I think the history … that’s the first time South Carolina has beaten a top-five team at home in the history of the school,” Palmer said. “That’s what stood out. To win these types of games, Spurrier and that program took a very big step last night.”

Upcoming 2009 ESPN College Football Primetime presented by Applebee’s Schedule

(All games on ESPN, all times Eastern)

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