1945 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 1945 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1945 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach John D. McMillan, the Gamecocks compiled an overall record of 2–4–3 with a mark of 0–2–2 in conference play, placing tenth in the SoCon. South Carolina was invited to the inaugural Gator Bowl, also the first bowl game in program history, where they lost to Wake Forest.^[1][2]

1945 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Gator Bowl, L 14–26 vs. Wake Forest
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	2–4–3 (0–2–2 SoCon)
Head coach	John D. McMillan (1st season)
Captain	Bryant Meeks
Home stadium	Carolina Municipal Stadium
Seasons ← 1944 1946 →

1945 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 13 Duke $	4	–	0	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Wake Forest	4	–	1	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
William & Mary	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Clemson	2	–	1	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Maryland	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	1
VMI	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
North Carolina	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
NC State	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
VPI	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
South Carolina	0	–	3	–	2			2	–	4	–	3
Richmond	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22		at Duke	Duke Stadium Durham, NC	L 0–60	12,000	[3]
September 29		Presbyterian*	Carolina Stadium Columbia, SC	W 40–0	6,000	[4]
October 6	3:00 p.m.	Camp Blanding*	Carolina Stadium Columbia, SC	W 20–6	7,000	[5][6]
October 13		at No. 7 Alabama	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL	L 0–55	14,000	[7]
October 25		Clemson	Carolina Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	T 0–0	25,000	[8]
November 9		at Miami (FL)*	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL	T 13–13	18,056	[9]
November 22		vs. Wake Forest	American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte, NC	T 13–13	16,000	[10]
December 1		Maryland	Carolina Stadium Columbia, SC	L 13–19	8,000	[11]
January 1, 1946		vs. No. 19 Wake Forest	Fairfield Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	L 14–26	12,000	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time