Jan. 19, 2017

We had the crowd behind us the whole game.

Stephon Gilmore

I remember going into that game and talking with Alshon Jeffery, Melvin Ingram, D.J. Swearinger and all of those guys about how we were the underdog. There wasn’t really any pressure on us. The pressure was on them (Alabama). We were going into that game to prove ourselves and get respect.

With the coaches, it was business as usual heading into the game.

They had a Heisman Trophy running back (Mark Ingram), actually two really good running backs (Trent Richardson), a great receiver (Julio Jones), and they had a great defense. They had a bunch of future first round draft picks.

We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we knew the type of players we had.

I felt like we were meant to win that game. If we could beat them, there’s nothing bad that people could say about us. I felt like we’d get a lot of respect.

We were amped up in practice, and it carried over into the game.

Also, the fans were so loud in that stadium. I never heard a stadium that loud before. It was shaking.

One play that sticks out for me was when Alshon made that one-handed catch. That was one of the greatest plays I’d seen in that stadium.

For me, I actually had two sacks that game. Those were big plays. Coach Johnson used to call me on corner blitzes all the time. It was a great feeling. I had to cover Julio Jones, too.

We knew we could do it. We had the crowd behind us the whole game. We had the momentum for the whole game.

It was a great feeling to beat those guys. It all came together. I feel like that was the biggest win in South Carolina’s history.