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Furman coach Bobby Lamb remembers coming to Williams-Brice Stadium 28 years ago not thinking much of the Paladins chances to beat South Carolina. While Lamb might have similar concerns facing the 13th-ranked Gamecocks on Saturday night, he hopes he's as wrong as he was in 1982.
Lamb was a freshman backup quarterback for the Paladins then and still had the bad taste of his team's 26-0 loss at North Carolina State only weeks before. But Furman left with a 28-23 upset of South Carolina still talked about by the purple Paladin faithful.
The Palmetto State programs haven't played since. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier hopes his team doesn't become the next FBS victim of an FCS opponent like Ole Miss losing to Jacksonville State or Virginia Tech falling to James Madison.
Spurrier doesn't have the answer to why big teams with major advantages in finances and recruiting sometimes lose to the little guys.
''I'm not sure if some of the bigger schools get as fired up as they need to be to play some of those smaller schools,'' he said.
Furman was certainly fired up for the last meeting, even with Lamb's worries coming in. He remembers the Paladins taking an early lead, 21-3, and South Carolina rallying with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tighten things. That's when future NFL standout Stanford Jennings took control on a clinching, 80-yard TD drive that sealed the victory.
''Once we won the game, you realized how big it was,'' Lamb said.
It was part of a run of success that cemented Furman's reputation as a giant killer. The school went 4-1-1 against current BCS schools between 1982-86.
Furman became so adept at defeating North Carolina State, the Wolfpack eventually hired away Paladins coach Dick Sheridan. Since then, though, the Paladins have only won once in 20 tries against FBS competition. Still, recent FCS triumphs have Furman thinking that anything's possible.
''It can be done, but a lot of things have got to fall into place,'' Lamb said. ''No. 1, you've got to be very lucky. No. 2, you've got to very good on that day.''
Spurrier says South Carolina has faced its share of very good FCS teams and barely made it through. The Gamecocks needed an interception in the final moments at their own 10-yard line to escape Wofford, 27-20, in 2006. Two years later, the Terriers again played South Carolina tight in a 23-13 loss.
''We haven't won any easy games around here much,'' Spurrier said. ''I don't know how in the world we could ever be overconfident. We haven't done enough to even think we should be heavily favored over a team.''
Despite the grousing, Spurrier doesn't lose to teams he's supposed to beat. South Carolina's head ball coach is 39-0 against teams who are not from conferences with automatic BCS berths, including all 13 such games as Gamecocks coach.
Plus, the Gamecocks (2-0) are likely to be solid favorites in most games if they keep performing like they have so far.
Freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore rushed for 182 yards and scored twice a week ago in South Carolina's first victory over Georgia in three seasons. Lattimore was named the SEC's co-offensive player of the week and Spurrier praised his running style and ability to break tackles.
Lattimore was accustomed to such mismatches in high school when he starred for powerhouse Byrnes and plans to work just as hard this week as he did last.
''We're not going to take this week off because it is Furman,'' Lattimore said. ''As you see, Virginia Tech, they got beat by James Madison. It can happen to us if we don't prepare and we're not focused.''
Furman's Lamb not counting on any celebrations just yet. He'll take part in a reunion of his 1982 teammates on Friday night and enjoy the memories of that fantastic afternoon almost 30 years ago.
''Then I'll have to set them down and warn them, this is not the South Carolina team of '82,'' Lamb said.
