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Mississippi State Football history: the 1998 South Carolina game

By Thomas K. Stark

Nov 28, 2015; Columbia, SC, USA; A South Carolina Gamecocks helmet on the field prior to the game against the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Columbia, SC, USA; A South Carolina Gamecocks helmet on the field prior to the game against the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mississippi State and South Carolina were permanent cross-divisional opponents when they played in 1998.

Mississippi State’s series with South Carolina began in 1992, the year the Gamecocks joined the Southeastern Conference.  The two teams played each other every year from 1992 through 2002.  Changes were then made to the conference master schedule and the two teams have met just four times since 2002.  Under the current format of the SEC schedule, the Bulldogs will now face South Carolina just once every five years.

The Bulldogs enjoyed early success against the Gamecocks, winning six of the first eight meetings, but South Carolina has now won seven straight in the series, including a 34-16 win in Columbia in 2013 and a 14-12 win at Davis Wade Stadium in 2011.

Today, we look back at one of the more enjoyable wins in the series; one of three times in the series that the Mississippi State defense shut out the Gamecocks. The year was 1998 and after opening the season with a pair of strong wins, including a 42-0 conference win at home over Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs entered their first SEC road game of the year at Columbia on the heels of a disappointing 42-23 decision to Oklahoma State.

But the Bulldogs showed on the game’s opening play that they were ready to put the previous week’s debacle behind them.  Kevin Prentiss took the game’s opening kickoff on the 9 yard line and sliced effortlessly through the Carolina return team for quick TD:

The Bulldogs scored early and often and would never look back as they cruised to an easy 38-0 victory, the most one sided win by either team in the series.  With the victory, MSU advanced to 3-1 and 2-0 in the SEC.  The 1998 team would go on to win the SEC Western Division title in 1998 and advance to the SEC championship game against eventual national champion Tennessee.

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