Oct. 31, 2007

The University of South Carolina football team will pay tribute to the victims who died in a tragic fire at a North Carolina beach house over the weekend by wearing a special helmet decal when they take the field against Arkansas on Saturday night.

“It was a terrible tragedy for our university and the families involved,” said Head Coach Steve Spurrier at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “For parents who have had teenagers go to college – I’ve had four now – you trust that they’ll be safe and make good decisions. It’s a terrible tragedy any time a family has to bury one of their children. We’ll remember these students and hopefully we can recover, but for the families it will be forever,” said Coach Spurrier. “There’s a phrase in our alma mater, `Forever To Thee.’ That will be on the back of our helmets.”

The Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3 SEC) will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-3, 1-3 SEC) at Donald Reynolds Stadium (72,000) in Fayetteville, Ark. on Saturday, Nov. 3. Game time is set for 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT). The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Mark Jones handling the play-by-play, Bob Davie providing the color commentary and Stacey Dales working the sidelines.