One of the most beloved Gamecock football traditions is getting an upgrade this season.
The University of South Carolina Athletics Department has added pyrotechnics to the Gamecocks’ “2001” pregame entrance in an effort to fire up fans before the game. The pyrotechnic additions include four new units that produce 20-foot flames as players run onto the field to the theme song from "2001-A Space Odyssey.” Eight carbon dioxide jets were also added, creating suspense with 20- to 25-foot smoke columns.
The USC football team first displayed the upgraded “2001” entrance at its practice at Williams-Brice Stadium on Tuesday. The athletics department opened the practice to USC faculty, staff and upperclassmen in a show of appreciation.
According to Pyrotechnico FX show producer Justin Pruett, the Gamecocks are the only NCAA team utilizing pyrotechnic effects on a massive scale for football games. Similar equipment is mostly used in the NFL, Pruett said.
“What makes a great entrance is everything that South Carolina does when they come out of that tunnel,” said SEC Network analyst Matt Stinchcomb. “They’ve got a fantastic soundtrack in the 'Space Odyssey.' The fans get wound up and they’re into it. It’s got really everything you’re looking for in a great entrance. It’s almost as if wrestling took its cue from South Carolina.”
Along with the fiery entrance, students got to listen to the new in-stadium DJ, who blasted energetic hip-hop music through the sound system. The DJ’s booth was near section 10 in the right corner of the lower-deck bleachers, but his bass-bumping tunes could be heard all around Williams-Brice.
“It won’t take away anything from what our band does at the game,” head coach Will Muschamp said of the DJ. “Our band does a fantastic job with the excitement they bring to our football team and to our game-day experience. It will not affect anything that our band does on game-days. It’s more of a pregame activity for our players, which we played music in those situations anyway.”
Gamecock fans who weren’t able to attend practice Tuesday will be able to see the in-stadium upgrades in the home opener against Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 16.