Sept. 8, 2003
by Tom Price, Gamecock Historian
Collin Mackie scored more points than any other Carolina football player in history but he never scored a touchdown or caught a pass. He did it all with his right leg.
When he finished his career in 1990, Mackie’s resume showed 330 points in four seasons compiled on 72 field goals and 114 points after touchdown. He was successful on more than 73 per cent of his field goal tries and missed just one of 115 PAT attempts for an accuracy of better than 99 per cent.
Mackie had dreams of a professional football career but things didn’t work out there. “I hired the wrong agent,” he said. “So, I decided to go out into the real world.”
The real world was the banking business. Mackie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1991 and worked for several banks in the Greenville area until he joined a new bank, Greenville First, as a vice president at its inception in 2000.
Mackie graduated from Irmo High School in suburban Columbia where he was a three time all-state selection under Coach Joe Turbeville, and was signed by the staff of Coach Joe Morrison at Carolina and took over the first team placekicking duties as a freshman.
In 1987 he kicked 25 field goals and 38 points after touchdown for a season total of 113 points, the most ever by a Gamecock player. Mackie’s kicking helped the Gamecocks compile an 8-4 record including a date with Louisiana State University in the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville.
Another 8-4 season followed in 1988 with a trip to Memphis for a Liberty Bowl date against Indiana. Mackie was again the team’s leading scorer with 82 points. That total ranks third on the all time single season scoring list behind the 113 Mackie scored as a freshman and the 84 points by Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers in 1980.
The death of Joe Morrison in January 1989 resulted in Mackie playing his final two seasons under head coach Sparky Woods. The Gamecocks had two more winning seasons, 6-4-1 and 6-5, but no bowl bids followed Mackie’s junior and senior seasons. Still, he played on four consecutive winning teams with a career record of 28-17-1.
Mackie scored 59 points as a junior and 76 his senior season, leading the team each year. He is one of only two players to lead the Gamecock football team in scoring four consecutive seasons. The other was legendary halfback Steve Wadiak who led the team with 30 points in 1948, 36 in 1949, 36 in 1950 and 48 in 1951. Mackie’s point total of 330 is more than double the 150 that Wadiak totaled on 25 touchdowns.
Mackie made 72 of 98 career field goal attempts, including a stretch of 15 consecutive successful tries. He made 114 of 115 points after touchdown with his only miss coming against Virginia Tech in the third game of his senior season. That miss broke a streak of 92 consecutive successful PAT attempts but didn’t affect the outcome of the game as Carolina won 35-24.
Mackie’s longest successful field goal was from 52 yards against East Carolina in 1989. He kicked a record five field goals and added two PAT for 17 points against West Virginia in 1990. Mackie’s .735 field goal accuracy is just behind the .736 by Mark Fleetwood who made 39 of 53 attempts, 1981-83.
The 72 field goals as well as the 330 points are both Carolina career records but the 114 points after touchdown ranks second to Scott Hagler, Mackie’s immediate placekicking predecessor. Hagler made 117 points after touchdown during his four year career, 1983-86. Hagler also missed just one PAT during his career.
The Gamecocks were a football independent throughout the Mackie career so there were no all-conference teams to be made but he was named to the All-South Independent squad and was a pre-season All-America honoree by prior to sophomore year.
Mackie’s wife Cameron, who he calls Cammie, is a Davidson College graduate and they have two children, four year old Dan Claire and three year old Drew.
